Stepford Wife
by writersblock24
Summary: Stephanie and Ranger team up as a married couple to catch a rogue spy turned gun runner... but will everything go to plan? Will they come out unscathed? Babe, Morelli friendly.  Rating for later.
1. Chapter 1

So, I'm back! After a long, suffering, painful writer's block, I have finally gotten a story chapter that I like. Go me! It would've been up sooner, but I had some family problems over break and then I realized two days ago that I actually wanted the story to start a completely different way. As of right now, I'd like to update once a week and when the story picks up maybe twice a week. Hopefully I'll keep to the schedule as long as the muse and school cooperate. So sit back and enjoy!

Not mine. If it was, I'm pretty sure Ranger would never see the light of day.

Also, before you read the story, I want to point out that there will be no confusion of loyalty. The bad guys are bad guys and the good guys are good guys. No one has any other motives (except Ranger... but then, when doesn't he?).

* * *

><p>When I was little, I dreamed of being Wonder Woman. I always thought that she was so cool. I mean, no one bossed her around and made her clean the invisible plane. Plus, she got to wear fun costumes.<p>

And everyone knows it's all about the costumes.

Now, I still want to be Wonder Woman, but my perspective has changed. Instead of being excited about the thought of freedom, I just want the cool costume.

However, if I wore it, then someone would try to commit me. And that just wouldn't do.

My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bounty hunter. That means I get to use my lasso of truth (aka my handcuffs) and any womanly wiles that I may have (5'7", average build, brown hair and big blue eyes) to drag scumbags back to jail after failing to appear for their court date. However, recently, the crooks of Trenton have been meeting their court dates leaving my wallet a little short in the cash department.

So here I am, sitting in a Rangeman cubicle, waiting for the search to complete while my ass gets numb. Ranger aka Carlos Manoso gives me a job at his company whenever the skips run dry. Somehow he always offers it to me before even I know I don't have any skips. The man says he's not Batman, but I just don't buy it.

He's Cuban-American with dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin and a dark past that surfaces once every blue moon, but never talks about. He's my mentor, my friend, my sometimes rescuer and my lover. We don't talk about the last one. It just happens. And it's been happening quite a lot.

But now I'm off men, so it doesn't happen at all. Although when it did… man, now I need a fan.

So I was sitting in my cubicle (mentally fanning myself because of all the mental images of Ranger naked), waiting for the research to ping, when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"AHH!" I screeched, rolling around to see my attacker. "JESUS! What the hell?"

A few of the other guys peeked over to see what was going on and snickered.

Ranger had snuck up on me. Again.

At least this time I had a good reason to be unaware. I pulled my headphones from my ears and paused the music. "Can't you get my attention like a normal person?"

"That wouldn't be as fun. You need to be more aware."

He needed to get that stamped on a shirt. "I got bored."

"What if the building was bombed?"

"I would've heard it and grabbed my gun. Not that anyone is stupid enough to bomb you. Besides, with all these other workers running around like sissies because they got bombed, I'm pretty sure I'd notice and get the hell out."

He grinned now. "What are you still doing here? It's almost six."

I looked at my watch. "Already? Shit, I'm going to be late."

"Dinner at your parents?"

"No. Joe's cooking tonight." I said offhandedly. Joe was my on again/ off again boyfriend for most of my adult life. His rugged Italian Stallion good looks make women go weak in the knees. He's six feet, dark hair and chocolate eyes that melt when he's horny. We had recently come to the conclusion that we weren't good for each other anymore. Sure, we had some great times in bed, but he wants a wife and I don't want to be chained in the kitchen. We finally saw eye to eye on that and split amicably. I wasn't sad at all because we decided to stay friends. Actually, the only thing that changed in the relationship was that we weren't having sex. The relationship is better than when we were together. I liked having Joe as just a friend.

"Why?"

"Because it's his turn."

"You cook?"

I shouldn't even be allowed to own an oven. "Please. I throw a Stouffer's lasagna in the microwave. In fact," I pulled out my grocery list and added that. "Thanks."

I could see that Ranger's face was a little darker than normal. "I thought you were off men."

"Oh I am. I am so off men that I could be a lesbian."

"So then…"

I sighed. Sometimes Ranger was a little dense. "Joe and I are just friends. We have dinner and talk and watch the game. Plus I like to see Bob. Don't you do that with Tank?"

"No."

"Well maybe you should. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto to talk to."

He grinned now. "I thought you were my Tonto, Babe."

Aw, sweet. "Sure. But this Tonto has plans. See you." I shuffled past him and called the elevator. He was still standing near my desk when the doors closed.

* * *

><p>"Okay, it is unnatural for my kitchen to smell this good." I said when I opened my apartment door. I lived smack dab in the middle of Trenton in a utilitarian brick building with the old and the newly married. I had a corner apartment with a fire escape, which became handy when I needed to dry my clothes.<p>

Joe was stirring a pot of red sauce and smiled at me. "Well the world is supposed to end, you know." He joked while handing me a glass of wine.

I took a sip and ignored the comment. "When's dinner going to be ready?"

"About five minutes."

That would give me enough time to change out of my Rangeman uniform and into my Ranger's jersey. I sat the wine glass down and raced to my bedroom to change.

"How was work today?" Joe asked me. Since we broke up, he actually seemed interested in the work I was doing at Rangeman. I told him about the research I had done and the plans I had helped create to get the bad guys. Since my regular FTA's were staying out of trouble, I decided to work at Rangeman full time. He worked it out with Vinnie so that all the skips are contracted through Rangeman. Ranger lets me pick who I want to deal with and then he splits the rest between the guys. To go after the bigger skips, Ranger has me training every other day. I still have a few more weeks left before he can feel confident to let me go out with a partner.

On the upside, I can run two miles without being winded now. Ranger was a proud man that day; so proud that he bought me a donut. I think I was more shocked than anyone.

When I was done, Joe talked about the cases he was working on. He was a Homicide detective, but for the next few months while they are figuring out the budget, he's pulling double duty and working Vice as well. Some of them were still pending, so he told me as much as he could and asked for my input. Sometimes my spidey sense comes in handy.

After dinner, we placed the dishes in the kitchen and settled down to watch the game.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you that I have a date with Nina."

"The paramedic who came to my last car bombing?" A skip thought it was funny to bring a Molotov cocktail with him to jail. Well, he didn't make it and my car suffered the brunt of the poorly designed joke.

"Yeah. I thought you should hear it from me first before word got out to the Burg."

I nodded. "She's cute. When are you guys going out?"

"Friday."

"Good. I'm glad you're going out. Thanks for telling me."

"Sure." He paused. "You know, if there's something you want to tell me about Ranger…"

"I'm off men. There is no me and Ranger." I replied without looking at him.

"Stephanie, if you want to go after him…"

I looked at Joe now. "There is nothing going on. I need to be on my own for a little while so for right now…" I trailed off. He got the point.

I appreciated his support, but right now, I needed to work on me. I needed to figure out what I wanted without anyone else getting in the way. And for me to do that, Ranger needed to be on the outside so I don't get all fuzzy. I want a clear head when I make that decision. I think I was finally growing up.

"Okay. I just want you to be happy."

I smiled. "I know." I cuddled into his chest and enjoyed the game.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I walked into the bonds office with a box of donuts and Lester on my heels.<p>

"Oh thank god." Lula said, getting up and heading straight for the donuts. She was looking exactly like herself in red spandex and red curly hair. I see that the little orphan Annie look was back. She came to work for Vinnie after being left on my fire escape by Benito Ramirez. And to be honest, she adds a little color to the place.

"Do you have any skips for me?" I asked Connie. She graduated a few years before me and had bigger brown hair and a bigger cup size. No one fooled with Connie because she was tied to the Family. Today, her Italian side was showing because she needed a lip wax.

"Just these." She handed me two files and I signed for them. "These," she held out to Lester, "are for you."

"Thanks." He signed his form. "So, how you doin'?"

Connie blinked once. "Does that ever work?"

"Sometimes."

"Try on someone else." Connie turned back to me. "Mooner called here looking for you. He doesn't want to miss his court date so he wants to bum a ride."

I did a double take. Mooner was one of my regulars who lived his life in a haze of marijuana smoke.

"He wants a ride?"

She nodded. "I think he's trying to turn his life around."

"Good for him. When does he need it?"

"Tomorrow at eight."

"I'll be there." I turned to Lester who was looking for his second donut. "Ready?"

He picked a glazed and nodded. "Let's roll."

When we got back to Rangeman, the first thing I heard was the unusual laughter of the men. The doors dinged open and we saw that most of the men were crowded around a beautiful, leggy blond.

Ranger included.

My heart sank. Not that I wanted him to wait for me, but it was nice to think that he might be.

"Do you know who that is?" I asked Lester.

"No, but I want to."

I rolled my eyes. Classic Lester.

We walked over and joined the crowed. I got a better look at the woman. She was a little taller than me, clear hazel eyes and hair that reached the middle of her back. She also had at least a cup size on me and appeared two dress sizes smaller.

She was perfect. I sighed and mentally slapped myself. If Ranger had a new girlfriend (not that Ranger did relationships) I was going to be happy for him. I forced a smile on my face and walked over.

The guys were laughing at the story and even Ranger had cracked a smile. Her eyes roamed the group and when they landed on mine, they began to sparkle and she walked over.

Oh boy.

"You must be Stephanie. Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes. "You're the only woman Ranger has ever employed other than Ella. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Natalie Fino. I've heard so much about you."

She was perky. "I wish I could say the same." I stuttered.

Ranger eyes went hard. "Don't you all have work to do?" He asked the men.

They paled and scurried off, leaving me, Natalie and Ranger alone.

Great.

"Ranger does nothing but sings your praises."

"Oh," I said, unsure of what to say to that. "He's a good boss."

She smiled back at him. "The Army taught him well."

Ranger decided to pipe in. "Natalie works for ATF. She's here to offer us a job."

"Yes!" She brightened even more. Just when I thought she couldn't get any perkier. "And I would love your input. I hope we can get together tomorrow to discuss things."

"Sure." Damn, it was hard to hate her, even though on some level, I wanted to.

"Great. Now if you excuse me, I need to go say hi to that man over there." She sauntered off to talk to Lester.

I turned to Ranger. "She seems nice."

He nodded once, his eyes not moving from my face.

"She's cute too." I smiled at him, showing I was okay with her. Them.

He smiled now, catching my drift. "Babe, there's nothing going on between her and me. Besides," he said, twirling one of my curls around his finger. He lowered his mouth to my ear, so I was the only one to hear him. "You know that I only go for brunettes."

Be still my heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh look who's posting on time... I think that would be me! Yay! I've kept my promise so far! I think I'll treat myself later and then get back to work on the next chapter. I hope to keep this schedule up, but writing more than 2,000 words is turning out to be harder for me than I thought (this chapter, without the author's note, barely made it). So bear with me and I promise to try my hardest to post once a week.

See you all (hopefully) next week! Hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Not mine, but we all know that.

* * *

><p>"I have one stop to need to make and then we can go get lunch." I said to Natalie. She had wanted to have a real Trenton lunch and asked me to take her. Personally, I think she wanted to get to know me better.<p>

And I'd let her grill me as long as I had a piece of pizza in my hand.

"That's fine." She replied, hopping into the front seat of my black SUV. Becoming a full time Rangeman employee has given me some great additions. More money, a nice company car under Ranger's insurance, health care…

You know, really great stuff.

I put the keys in the ignition and turned to her. "Of course, I do want to apologize now."

She tilted her head. "Why's that."

"You're going to meet my Grandmother."

"Is she horrible?"

"She's more like an experience." I replied, starting the car.

Grandma Mazur was waiting at the door when we pulled up. Her hair was in her usual apricot curls and she was wearing a matching jogging suit. I think she's trying to dress more like Lula. She came to live with my parents after Grandpa Mazur took his winnings and bought a ticket to see Elvis. Since then, my mother has begun ironing more and dad has joined the NRA.

"Who's the fed?" She yelled across the driveway.

I sighed. Way to go, Grandma. "Did I already apologize?" I asked Natalie as we walked up the steps.

"Three times." She smiled and held out her hand. "Special Agent Natalie Fino. ATF."

"Fino. You Italian?"

"Through and through."

"You'll fit in around here. My son in law is full Italian. He only likes other Italians." Grandma said, opening the door for us.

"Grandma!" I said, slightly appalled. Usually, I was all for Granma speaking her mind, but this time was a little too far. Even though she was right. The only other people my father liked were Italians. He tolerated other ethnicities, but he treated them like foreign cars. Second best.

"Well it true!" She turned to look at Natalie. "What does ATF stand for?"

"Alcohol, firearms and tobacco and explosives."

Grandma moved her dentures around in her mouth. "But there's no 'e'."

"I can't explain it either. The government's doing, I guess."

"This is why our country is going to pot. Helen!" Grandma yelled. "Your daughter brought home a federal agent!"

There was a sigh and I'm pretty sure a sign of the cross coming from the kitchen. I could feel her willing it to work on me. My mother was a carbon copy of me, but with more grey hairs (most of which I gave her) and a few more wrinkles. She came out of the kitchen, drying her hands and gave me a stern look. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!"

"I remember the last time you had an agent following you. You almost got killed by a stalker!"

"That you set me up with!"

She stopped and thought about it. "And I apologized."

"And I forgave you. And gained ten pounds."

"Good. You could use the extra meat. You're looking thin."

"_Toned_. I'm working out."

"With Ranger?" Grandma piped in, waggling her eyebrows.

"Not like that, but he helps."

"What I would do to him if I was thirty years younger…"

"You would still be older than dirt!" My father yelled from his chair.

"Hi dad," I said, giving him a kiss. I get my brown hair and stubbornness from my Italian father.

He grunted. "You in trouble?" He asked me.

"No, she's a friend."

"Good."

We don't share our emotions like normal family does by yelling and hugging. We solve it with food. My father, on the other hand, has got a real soft spot for me. He likes to make sure I'm okay. And I let him because I'm his little girl.

"Are you staying for lunch?" My mother asked me.

"No. I just wanted to drop this off for Grandma." I replied, handing her the box. "They're specialty made tennis shoes. Rangeman gets them in bulk and I thought you could use a pair."

"Thanks, Stephanie."

I grinned. "They came accidentally in white and I asked Ranger to let me keep a pair for you. They'll help you keep your balance better and help tone your body."

"Sweet. Tell Ranger thanks for me."

"Will do."

"Are you going to be here for supper?"

"I don't think so. Work."

She sighed. "You work too much."

"But then I get paid and food goes into my refrigerator and you don't have to worry about me starving."

She sighed again. "I would like to worry less."

"I'll come by soon." I said, appeasing her.

She nodded. "Let me know and I'll make pot roast."

I nodded and gave each of them a little hug, surprising them a bit. Our relationship over the years has been rocky, but I think we're all in a good place now that my parents accept what I am doing and support me the best that they can. I, in turn, try not to get killed or blown up. It's a win-win situation here.

"Let's roll." I said to Natalie.

* * *

><p>"So, how do you know Ranger?" Natalie asked me when we had sat down in Pino's. The lunch crowd was leaving, so it was nice and quiet. Pino's was a place for families during the day and for cops and drunks at night. The place was in transition for the night time and hopefully the roaches were staying away from the sauce.<p>

"He trained me to be a bounty hunter." I said while ordering a coke.

Natalie brightened. "Oh! You're Eliza!" She ordered a coke as well.

The waitress brought over the cokes. "What?" I asked, stunned.

"Ranger would come to meetings with these big smiles on his face and he would never tell me why. One day, I dragged it out of him. 'My Eliza did this' or 'my Eliza did that'. It's nice to finally able to put the face to the woman."

Hmm, my Eliza. I like the sound of that. "I had no idea."

"Sure you didn't. That man isn't much of a talker when it comes to personal business."

I hear that. "How did you meet Ranger?"

"Ranger is the acting liaison between us and other government agencies."

"How often does he do that?"

She thought about it for a moment. "About once a month. He gathers all the intel and briefs each agency. It's the first step we took for interagency cooperation. No one wanted to handle the task themselves, so we hired privately."

I nodded. Ranger had filled me in when I started full time at Rangeman. I was surprised he was telling me at all and when I asked him he said he wanted me to know where he was going. That he wanted me to know where he was going whenever he could.

Okay, I swooned a little.

We ordered a supreme pizza. I was stunned to say the least. She looked more like a salad girl to me. I shared my surprise with her.

"Please. Salad is for the weak. I just work it off with exercise and hot sex."

I think I was going to like her.

"I've made copies for you to browse through tonight. I figured you could read it, make some notes and give me your thoughts tomorrow before the meeting. I'm going to brief the team Ranger's assembling, but you can fill any gaps you think are necessary." Natalie explained after we had finished.

"Sure, I can do that."

"Excellent." She pulled out an inch thick stack of papers. "Have at it."

I stuffed them into my bag. "Is that normal?"

"The size? No. Usually we have more. This guy is good. A real bad guy."

I nodded. "I'll work fast."

"So," she said, wiping her lips on the napkin. "What's Lester's deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is he seeing someone?"

"Sure. About five women."

"He's a player?"

"Through and through."

"Hmm, that could be fun." She had a glint in her eye. One that I liked very much.

I smiled. "Do it. I'll be fun to watch him get yanked around."

"I love a good game."

We clinked our glasses.

* * *

><p>Later that night, while I was reading through the file, there was a knock on my door. I was surprised to find Ranger on the other side.<p>

"You knocked."

"I brought Chinese. Are you going to let me in?"

I stepped aside. "Why did you knock?" I asked him while he was putting the food on the counter.

"I couldn't unlock the door with my hands full."

"You could've put it down."

"Sure. But knocking was the easier solution." He pointed to the bags. "Steak, chicken, egg rolls, and a spicy stir fry."

"Sounds good."

We dug into the food. "What's with the food gift? We didn't have plans tonight, did we?"

He shook his head. "I heard you talking to Tank that you were going to be looking at the file. I figured you'd need a break."

"Thanks." I looked over at the pile of papers and post-it notes. "He's a really bad guy, Ranger."

"I know."

"He needs to be stopped fast."

"We're going to do everything we can, Babe. That's all we can do."

I sighed and leaned back. Ranger imitated my pose.

"Your Eliza, huh."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Natalie told me."

"What else has she been telling you?"

"That you actually have a smile. I'm a little jealous because I've rarely seen it." I fake pouted.

Ranger smiled.

Holy crap. I think I died and went to heaven.

"There. Now you can't say that anymore."

"Um, yeah." I said. Mental head slap. Way to sound intelligent.

We sat there and ate. I wasn't sure what to say now and Ranger was leaving that ball in my court.

Way to take one for the team.

"Grandma says thanks for the shoes, by the way."

"Not a problem."

"Did you make the customer service person cry when you called?"

"Sure did." He actually looked proud about that.

"You're a strange man, Carlos Manoso."

He shrugged. "Takes one to know one."

"Hey!" I said, flicking a piece of chicken at him. "Rude."

He grinned again.

Ranger helped me clean up the dishes after we were done. He washed and I dried. I was surprised to find out that I enjoyed doing that with him than I ever did with Joe. In fact, I liked doing normal things with Ranger.

Hmm, more to think about later.

Ranger left soon after getting a phone call. He kissed me on the forehead and told me he'd see me tomorrow.

Ever since Joe and I broke up, that's about the extent of our romantic interactions. Which I was completely fine with. Until I figured my life out, nothing was getting anywhere I didn't want it to be.

Plus, I think Ranger was giving me the time I needed.

I shook my head and got back to the file. After the meeting, I'd give my life more thought. But right now, I knew that this needed my full attention. I wasn't going to let the guys down on this one.

There were a few notes I wanted to make with my new head on. I was grateful for the little break Ranger gave me. He made me think of something that I would've missed before. I flipped through some of the older documents first, just to make sure my notes made sense to me now. Sometimes in my sugar filled haze, I write things that make sense at the time. But when Ranger has to decipher it, that's when things get sketchy.

One time, it landed Lester in a dress. But it turned out that the skip was a cross dresser, so things worked out nicely on that one.

They all made sense and I went back to the beginning. I added a post-it to his background page.

_Does the wife know?_


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Another update. I'm getting good with this once a week thing. I hope you enjoy the chapter. I loved writing it.

Also, I went and saw the One for the Money movie. Pretty good. It was a little different from the book, but I thought everyone played their parts pretty well. I love the look on Ranger's face whenever Stephanie ate. It was perfect! Just the right amount of awe and disgust... Exactly what I think Ranger would do.

Not mine. If you didn't know that though, we got problems.

Secondly, I want to remind people that this is a complete work of FICTION. I didn't do much research, just enough to make sure things made sense. Anything that I get wrong is an accident, but I wasn't looking to make this 100% accurate. I wrote it the way I did because that's how I wanted to write it.

* * *

><p><em>Thwap. Thwap. Thwap.<em>

The pounding of my feet on the treadmill matched my heart rate. I let my mind wander as Metallica pounded in my ears. Then the machine beeped, announcing the beginning of my cool-down exercises. Five more minutes and I was done. I took the headphones off when Bobby took the treadmill next to me.

"You're here early." He said with surprise in his voice. Bobby was 6'1" of pure chocolate muscle. He was the company medic and my part time partner. Being part of the A-team, he doesn't get out much, so when I need backup, Bobby is more than willing to ride shotgun with me.

"Couldn't sleep." I replied, panting. "A lot on my mind."

"Would this have anything to do with the upcoming meeting… or would this have to do with Morelli's upcoming date?"

I stopped the machine and started stretching. "How do you know about that?"

"The medical community is very small." He replied, shrugging. "Plus, Nina and I are friends."

"Ah," I nodded. Things began making sense. I looked at Bobby's face. The worried look almost made me smile. He thought I was going to punch something or cry. "I'm not jealous of him. I'm happy."

"You are." He didn't look convinced.

"Sure," I said, shrugging. "Why shouldn't he date? We're not together anymore."

I think this was the first time I've actually seen a Rangeman surprised. I felt my brow furrow. "You didn't know? I thought everyone knew."

Bobby stopped his treadmill. "No. I had no idea. Are you okay?"

"Sure. It ended amicably."

"Well that's a surprise. I would've thought…"

"That we'd end it publicly and screaming?" I smiled. "So did everyone else."

"Does Ranger know?"

Now the guys have been watching me and Ranger dance around each other for years. Every time Joe and I were off, Ranger and I were _very_ close. When we were on, he's kept his distance.

"Yeah," I said, looking down to grab my bottle of water. "He knows."

"So are you two a couple?" He looked hopeful.

"No."

Bobby looked pissed. "That bastard. He knows…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch it there, Rambo." I held my hands up. "This is all on me. I'm trying to figure out what I want. I'm trying to grow up."

He scoffed. "We all know it's Ranger."

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure. I hope so."

Again, Bobby looked surprised. "I don't understand."

"Every relationship I've ever been in, I went in head first. This time, I want to make sure I'm making the right decision." I lowered my head. "I don't want to screw it up this time."

He stood in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I think that's _very_ grown up of you. I'm proud of you."

I blushed. "Thanks."

"If you figure out that it's Ranger and he screws it up, can I kick his ass?"

"Be my guest." I said, smiling.

"This is why I love you."

* * *

><p>I stepped off on five and went to say hi to Cal and Binkie in the control room. They were stuck on early monitor duty, aka the worst shift in the entire company. It's worse than surveillance at three in the morning. Cal was 6'2", all lean muscle with a flaming skull tattooed to his forehead. The guy looked scary, but on the inside, I knew that he's a big softie. Binkie looked up with his piercing green eyes and smiled at me. He was the same height as Cal, but had more muscles than him.<p>

Some days, I really love working at Rangeman.

"Nice cut." I said, rubbing what was left of his black hair. He had it cut to his scalp.

"Thanks. I'm trying something new."

Cal held up a donut. "Thanks for these." He smiled at me.

"Anytime." Usually Ranger didn't allow sweets on the floor, but we came to an agreement. We don't overindulge and Ranger turns a blind eye. Really, it's a win-win for all.

I glanced over at Ranger's office. The light was on. Good. He was up and I could take a shower in his apartment without going home. Good thing I kept a change of clothes at my desk. I gave the guys a wave and headed over.

I fobbed myself into Ranger's apartment and sighed with relief. I don't know what it was about Ranger's apartment, but I always felt calm and safe here. Maybe it had something to do with the man who lived there…

I stripped and started the shower. All I could think about was getting naked and cleaning up. I had grudgingly begun to enjoy exercising, but I still hated to sweat.

I was loading my loofah (yes, Ranger lets me keep a loofah in his shower), when the door opened.

"Jesus Christ!" I tried to cover myself up. "I'm showering here!"

"Yes. I can see that. What are you doing? It's nothing I haven't seen before." Ranger's glassy eyes were dark. He looked like he had just woken up; even his boxers were crooked. It was sexy.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all. In fact, I will pay you to just be in my shower naked."

"Tempting, but no. Shut the door please."

He grinned and obliged. "Not that I mind, but what are you doing in my shower?"

"I couldn't sleep so I came in to run on the treadmill. I thought you were in your office. The light was on."

"I'm going to leave out any comparison to Rex right now. Natalie was in there. We were going over some things. I came up here for a few hours of sleep when you sauntered in and started stripping. I thought I was dreaming." I could hear the smile in his voice.

Damn, how had I missed him in bed? "I'll be out of your way soon."

"Take your time. I'll call Ella."

My mouth watered. I loved Ella's cooking. She cooked better than my mother. If she adopted me, I'd learn how to cook.

"Ella's pleased that you're here. She making you pancakes." Ranger said when he returned to the bathroom.

"God, I love her."

He opened the door. "I called her. Don't I get any love?"

I kissed him on the cheek. He grinned at me. "Need help with your back?"

"Get a grip."

His grin widened and he shut the door.

Twenty minutes later, I came out of the bedroom to see Ella putting the plate of pancakes down.

"Good morning, dear." Ella said with a bright smile.

"Good morning." I replied. "Ella, you are a goddess."

She blushed brightly. "Glad you think so."

"Statues will be erected."

She grinned. "Did you stay here last night?" She looked as hopeful as Bobby did.

"No, I was downstairs exercising and Ranger surprised me when I came up here to clean up."

Her face fell a little. "Oh. If you or Ranger need anything, just call."

"Will do."

I sat down and I was moaning my way through the large plate of pancakes and sausage when Ranger joined me. He grimaced.

"I don't know where you put it all."

"I was blessed with a fast metabolism."

"Still." He grimaced harder when I poured syrup on my sausage. "Jesus."

"Think of it as one of life's mysteries."

"It's something alright."

I looked at his egg white omelet. "That's what I see when I look at your food."

He smirked. "Cute."

"So, you and Natalie were working late."

"Babe…" He had a slight warning in his tone.

"No, I know that she's not your time. I just thought that she would be putting the screws to Lester."

Ranger's eyebrow rose. "Lester. Really." He picked up his coffee cup. "She does know that he's a manslut, right?"

"Yep." I smiled. "She likes a challenge."

"Good. He could use a deflation in his ego."

"That's what I said!"

"You know what they say about great minds…" He tucked a curl behind my ear.

I smiled. Sighing, I sat back. "I don't think I can move."

Ranger looked at his watch. "You have about twenty minutes. Natalie wanted to see your feedback before the meeting."

"Shit. I forgot about that." I got up and grabbed my purse. "I wanted to give it one more look."

* * *

><p>"Okay." Natalie said, bringing the meeting to order. She started her power point presentation. "Richard Souffe, aged around 43, former government operative, turned gun runner. He is thought to be a part of around a hundred murders and countless accidents. He mainly works out of the Texas Mexican border. He also has a house with his wife in Huston.

"After being honorably discharged, he was a model citizen for a few years and then popped back up in connection to the Mexican drug cartels as well as a Columbian drug cartels."

"Cartels?" Lester asked. "Wouldn't that fall under DEA jurisdiction?"

"Due to budget cuts, the DEA is already stretched thin. We've been taking some of their cases that are in connection with firearms as well."

"So why not put a task force together?" Tank asked. His name said it all. The man looked and acted like a tank; silent and scary. "Put newer agents on the force."

Natalie paused. "They did."

Everyone in the room froze. Cal and Hal exchanged looks.

Ranger's blank face came out. "I don't understand. If there is an ongoing investigation there's not much we can do."

"They broke up the task force about three months ago. Claimed there wasn't enough evidence and there wasn't enough money in the budget. All of this is circumstantial. The US Attorney wants concrete evidence before they start making arrests.

"My boss is giving me a short leash on this. We get one shot to get the evidence we need. I came to you because you are the best."

We all looked at Ranger.

"You're sure about this?" He asked.

She nodded. "I have an informant on the inside, but we need more. People tend to disappear around him."

Ranger's fist clenched. "What's your plan?"

She grinned now, seeing that we were in. "How do you feel about getting married?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Natalie nodded to me. "This was all Stephanie's doing. You want to take it from here?"

I stood up and clasped my hands together so they couldn't see them shake. "I was looking through the file and almost missed it. Richard and Anne got married about three years ago right before he retired. They were doing well, for a while and then suddenly, the money in their bank accounts disappeared. I followed my nose and the money and found several bills for an oncology doctor. She had breast cancer."

The guys looked confused. Natalie and I shared a smile. Only men wouldn't get it.

I turned to Ranger. "If Julie was injured, would you do anything to make sure she got what she needed?"

"Of course."

"That's exactly what he did. He made sure that she got all the care that she needed, no matter the cost."

"So he's actually a good guy." Bobby said, looking a little sad. "Just trying to make ends meet."

I nodded. "I would've said yes about two years ago."

"What happened?"

Natalie got back up. "Two years ago, there was a bombing at a Mexican school. They used the guys supplied from him to kill over twenty children."

"Jesus."

"That's not the worst part." I said. "I found this picture buried in a newspaper." Natalie clicked the slide.

There, in plain sight of everything, was our bad guy Richard Souffe, holding one of the guns at the school.

Ranger's fist clenched harder on his leg. I grabbed it and wrapped my fingers around it. He gave me a small smile of thanks in return.

"How is he getting these guns?" Tank asked.

"This is the amusing part. Anywhere he can get them. Military bases, pawn shops, gun stores, even police auctions."

"Police auctions?"

"Sure. Cities are selling anything they can so they can keep their officers. It's rare, but cops put one or two guns in under the radar. Usually guns related to robberies and not murders. We usually miss it or it's too far gone to trace."

"He probably dissembles the guns and puts different gun parts together. It's not an exact science, but they can resell it. The serial numbers won't match so it's harder to trace." Ranger said.

"I'm still not sure what the wife has to do with it." Leave it to Bobby to bring us back to topic.

"Two years ago, he had paid of all the bills. Now he does it for fun." I said, looking at the picture. "Maybe it brings back some of the fond memories and he wanted some of it back. Vicarious thrills."

"Sounds like he's doing it for fun now. Fantastic." Lester said, sarcastically.

"My money is on that she doesn't know. He loves her too much to tell her what he's really doing so that's our best in. If she has no idea, then he's not going to be as suspicious if she makes a new friend as he would with a potential cartel buyer."

"Go in through the back door. Nice digging, Babe."

I blushed.

"So who are you going to send in with him?" Lester asked. We could tell he liked the plan.

"How about you? You two would be a handsome couple." Natalie said to him. She had a sickly sweet smile on her face.

"No way could I pull off the gay look."

"I don't know…"

"Hey!"

"Children…" Ranger said.

I snickered.

"Fine if you won't, what about Stephanie?"

This was news to me. "What?"

"Sure. You guys have the chemistry. Everyone would think that you're already married. Besides, I can't do it so things stay on the up and legal."

I looked at Ranger. "I don't know…"

"I don't either." We both knew about my big decision that would probably hold me back from being too intimate.

"Actually, that's a good idea." Lester said.

"No." That was from Bobby. I could tell he was trying to protect me and my very important decision.

Tank was silent. Ranger looked at him. "Well?"

"The only other option is Jeanne."

I felt Ranger shiver. "Pass."

Well. Now I felt a little giddy.

"Then, I think she's your only option."

Ranger thought for a moment, then sighed. "Babe, you up for some undercover work?"

I paused. I didn't have a choice. It was either let this guy continue to kill or play house with Ranger for a few months.

And really, how bad could that be?

"I'm game."


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! Bonus chapter. I haven't decided if I'm going to start updating twice a week, but I got a request from a birthday celebrant for a chapter today and I delivered! So happy birthday Babe!

Not mine. Only the mistakes are.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, I think I'm going deaf." Joe said. "You're doing <em>what<em>?"

"Going undercover with Ranger." I didn't look up from the bowl I was stirring. I wanted all of my concentration on the apple mix that needed a few more minutes of stirring.

Plus, I didn't want Joe to see me blushing so brightly.

"Yeah I heard that part. What was the part after that?"

My head dipped lower. Any lower and it'll be in the bowl. "That we're going to pretend to be married?"

"Yep. Okay. That's what I thought you said." He chuckled into his beer.

"It's not funny!"

"Sure. What are you doing there?"

"Making a pie?"

He slammed the glass down. "Okay, am I dying? Because it's either that or hell has frozen over. Since it's not snowing in July, I have to assume I'm dying."

"Shut up."

"If I would've known that all it took for you to cook was to make you pretend to be my wife, I would've done that _years _ago."

"Okay. Who invited you over?"

"You did."

"Oh right. I need a tester." I smiled wickedly at him.

I decided I was going to try to get myself into the wife mindset. I didn't want to clean and I didn't have mountains of laundry, so cooking seemed to be a nice and slow place to start. I borrowed some simple recipes from Ella and I wanted to see if I could cook. I poured the apples into the crust. "Come on. I'm not going to poison you."

"Can I call my lawyer first and update my will?"

I glared at him.

He came around the kitchen counter and hugged me. "You know I'm just kidding. I'm sure it's great."

"Thanks." I decided to put the focus on him and away from my pies. "How was your date last night?"

"Great. Nina's great."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"I don't know. This is your first date. I don't know what ex-girlfriend slash friend asks."

He shrugged. "We went to Pino's… What?" He asked when I wrinkled my nose.

"You went to Pino's? Isn't that like the fourth date stuff? We've already had sex so I don't need to impress you date?"

"_She_ chose to go there."

"Wow, really?"

"I asked. And she picked."

"Huh." I smiled.

"What, not first date material?"

"I think she was establishing herself as your new woman."

"What?"

"Who goes there?"

"Everyone."

"Exactly."

"I don't get it."

I sighed. What is it about men that they don't get? We can tell when they're trying to mark their territory, but when we do it, we look nuts. "She was showing the Burg that you've moved on from me to her." He still looked confused. "She peed in a circle around you."

He actually looked happy. "You think so?"

I shrugged. "Sure. It's what I'd do if I was the next woman after such a long relationship."

"Did you pee your circle around Ranger?"

I laughed. Thankfully before I had to answer, the bell dinged. I pulled the pie out and breathed a sigh of relief. The pie had survived without a burn on it. It actually looked good. I turned it to Joe and smiled. "See?"

"Looks good, Steph."

I cut him a piece and put it in front of him. He sniffed it and gently put his fork into it and forked a small piece. He chewed it slowly and his face changed from concentration to complete surprise.

"It's really good."

I perked up. "You really mean it?"

"Yeah. Steph, this really is good. It rivals my mother."

That was high praise coming from a Burger. "Thanks."

"Who knew you could cook like this?"

I shrugged. It really was a mystery.

Joe plowed through one more piece and I wrapped another to go. I ate the rest of the pie.

"You know, the only thing that would've made it better was if there was ice cream." He leaned against the open doorframe.

"Sorry. Fresh out."

"I figured. You just had your period."

"How do you…?"

"You forget, Stephanie that we used to date." He kissed me on the cheek. "You never did answer my question."

"What's that?"

"Did you do your circle around Ranger?"

"Bye Joe."

He turned to the elevator. "Think about it."

* * *

><p>And that's exactly what I did. Did I pee in a circle around Ranger? I never saw any other woman get within five feet of the man. Of course that could be because he is so hot. I remember I couldn't do that for a while. It took me months before I could cross that barrier.<p>

But was that the only reason? Did I place some claim on him? I don't think I've ever seen him with another woman other than Ella and Jeanne. And Jeanne is only marginal as a woman. I think she's part machine.

I looked at the extra pie I had made and sighed. I guess there was only one way to find out.

The elevator doors dinged as they opened on the seventh floor. I nervously stepped out, shifting the pie from one hand to the other.

I still couldn't believe I was doing this. What if he laughed in my face? Then I would've ruined the best friendship I have for nothing. I wasn't ready for this.

Somehow my feet didn't get the message. Before I could bolt away, I was knocking on the door.

Ranger looked surprised when he opened the door. "Babe."

He looked gorgeous in a grey t-shirt and sweat pants. I drooled for a moment then opened my mouth.

"I brought pie." Mental head slap. He can see that, stupid.

Ranger smiled.

"I mean, I wanted to get into my character a little early. You know, prepping to be Susie Homemaker. So I talked to Ella who gave me some recipes and I tried one tonight. I thought if you weren't busy that we could try it and maybe talk and… Oh my god, you're not alone." I said when I heard the giggle. I looked at Ranger's face and saw the guilt.

"Babe, it's not…"

I stepped back. "No really, it's okay. We can do this another time." You know, when I get out from under the covers. Once again, I was ready to bolt when a pink blur ran into me and squeezed me. Hard.

"Stephanie! It's so good to see you! I haven't seen you in _forever_!"

The blur stepped back and recognition hit. "Julie? Is that really you? You look so grown up!" And she did. She was easily a foot taller and her hair was shorter, giving her face a leaner look. It also made her big brown eyes, Ranger's eyes, even bigger. Her smile was wide as she pulled me into the apartment.

"This is so great. I was just asking Ranger about you and here you are! It's like you heard me talking about you. I'm into psychics right now…" And she rambled on while she walked into the living room. Ranger and I stayed behind. I raised my eyebrows.

"Her mom let her come up for a visit before we left. I was going to have her surprise you at your desk tomorrow." He grinned now. "I should've known that when it comes to you, _I'm_ the one usually surprised."

"If you want to be alone with her…"

"No," he said, lacing our fingers together. "I want you here with us."

Ranger and Julie also thought my pie was a hit. Surprisingly enough, Ranger had two slices. I thought Julie and I were going to fall off of our chairs.

"I've never seen him take a second piece. _Ever_." Julie said.

"Me either."

"Are you two done eying me?" Ranger asked with mirth in his voice.

"No. I need a picture." I pulled out my iPhone. "Lula will fall over."

"I remember Lula. We e-mailed for a while."

I turned to her. "You did? I didn't know that."

"Yup. We started the 'Stephanie Saved Our Ass' club."

"Julie."

"What? She made it up. And I'm fourteen now! I can swear."

"Says who?"

"Mom. But she says not to do it in public. Or family. Just sometimes when I'm alone or around her. And none of the bad ones like the f-word or the d-word. But crap, shit and ass are fair game."

"Do I look like mom?"

She paused. "No."

"Then we don't swear."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine." It was that moment when her phone rang and we lost her to her friend.

"Now I need video."

"Why?"

"I thought I'd never see the day when you'd parent. No one is ever going to believe that one."

"Babe."

"Come on, I'll get her back in here and we can do that again. Take two."

I swear, Ranger wanted to roll his eyes.

"Are you glad to see her?"

He nodded. "I never thought I'd have a relationship with my daughter."

"What made you change your mind?"

He looked at me. "You."

"Me?"

He nodded. "Before you stumbled into my life, I kept everyone on the outside. It was safer that way. No ties to anything, nothing for the bad guys in my past to use. Then you came along, with your bag of crazy…"

"Hey!"

"Not that it's a bad thing. I actually like your bag of crazy. Keeps me on my toes."

"Good."

"You showed me that letting people in is okay and you helped me to see that I may not need to take care of every little detail. Bad guys are going to show up, no matter what." He leaned in. "Something else you taught me."

I shrugged. "Crazies like me."

"So let them show up. I know I'm capable of taking care of what's mine. There's no real point in worrying for something that may or may not happen."

I smiled. "So you started to see Julie more."

He looked over at her and smiled softly, watching her talk to her friend. "And I'm so glad I did."

"Me too."

* * *

><p>The alarm the next morning startled me into consciousness.<p>

The mocha latte arm that stretched over me, startled me awake.

Holy crap. I'm still in Batman's apartment. I remember Julie inviting me to stay and watch movies with them and by the time we finished, Julie was asleep on the couch and I was in no mood to drive. So Ranger let me crash in his bed.

Only, I remember going to sleep by myself. Right now, I'm pretty sure we were spooning.

Did we do anything with Julie five feet away?

Time for a panty check. I wiggled around and felt them.

Thank god.

I was surprised to feel a little disappointment. Huh. Maybe I was missing sex.

"Good morning." Ranger said, nuzzling my neck.

"Uh, hi."

He continued for a second, and then froze. "Fuck. Sorry, Steph."

"It's fine. You were still asleep." Then I grinned. "And watch the language."

"I'm not fourteen years old."

"It's okay only if you're an adult?"

"Babe, I remember _very well _when you enjoyed my swearing."

I blushed hard. "Jeez."

He rolled onto his back and I turned to face him. "You came over to talk last night and we never did."

I bit my lip. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have with teenage ears so close. "It wasn't important."

His eyebrow flicked up. "Babe, you brought me a pie. At ten at night."

"So? Can't I just come over with pie?"

He wolfishly grinned at me.

"Okay, bad example. It's nothing that can't wait."

His face turned serious. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "What are you doing in here? I thought I was going to get the bed to myself."

"Babe. I told you that we'd have to share. You said sure as long as I made a pillow border."

Oh. Now I remember. "Did you?"

"I didn't have to. You were snoring when I got out of the shower."

"I don't snore!"

The door slammed opened and Julie jumped into bed. "Good. You're up. Ella brought breakfast."

Thank god. I needed to get out of this bed. It was feeling scarily domestic.

And I was starting to like it.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sure you're all anxious for things to pick up, but I can't help that the muse keeps coming up with this stuff. Some of it's important now, some will be important later. I hope you all enjoy!

Not mine, I swear!

* * *

><p>"I think we need another night out." Lester said, leaning over the wall of my cubicle. After sharing an oddly normal breakfast with Ranger and Julie, I'd quickly showered and scuttled into my cubicle, glad for the distraction of work.<p>

Ranger and I still hadn't talked.

Which, for right now, I was okay with. There were still things we needed to talk about, but I don't think airing our dirty laundry before a big operation is the best idea. Who knows what will carry over? I mentally pushed it to the back of my mind.

"We just went out three days ago. You make it sound like you've got cabin fever."

He shrugged and sat down in the other chair. Lester looked a lot like Ranger. They had the same coloring, same hair (except for Lester's highlights) and some of the same Anglican features. The biggest difference was Lester's piercing green eyes. "I feel…" He shifted in his chair like a five year old.

"Lester," I sighed. "You do that every day. Give me more."

"I don't know. Antsy?"

I cocked my head and smiled. "Why would that be?"

He peeked his head over the cubicle and sat back down. "I think Natalie wants me as her human sacrifice."

Okay, not exactly what I had in mind, but it's Lester. So I'll roll with it. "What do you mean?"

"She's acting all weird."

"Weird?"

"One minute she hates my guts, the next she wants to jump my bones. She's giving me whiplash!"

"Really?"

He looked at me. "You know something."

I tried to look innocent. "I know what you know."

His eyes narrowed. "Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you work for Ranger. And with that comes the lesson of distrust. It's right after learning not to have phone manners."

He continued to glare at me. Hey, I thought I was amusing.

"So," I coughed. "About this night out."

Thankfully, he followed on the topic change. "Me, Natalie, Bobby and some of the other guys are hitting the town tonight. You want to join us."

"Sure. I could use a night off to blow off some steam."

"You need help with the blowing, just call me." He said, winking at me.

Of course, this is the precise moment when Ranger decides to show up. I groaned and placed my head on the desk. I listened to Lester leave and Ranger took his place.

"Do I even want to know?" I could feel his eyebrow was raised at me.

"Oh, just Lester being Lester."

"That's comforting."

I looked up at him. "Is there some specific reason why you're hear bothering me. I've got work to do."

"Hector and Woody are drawing up the papers you'll need to sign. Before they finish, I want you to have a look at them. Make any changes you want."

"Will these papers be fake?"

"Yes. But the guys are very good. They'll look real enough to pass any kind of security test."

I bit my lip. My stomach flip flopped at the fact that we'd be faking documents, but there was really nothing I could do to stop them. "Sounds good. Can I be from Paris?"

"Can you fake a French accent?"

"No."

He grinned and rubbed my cheek. "Stick to being American, then."

"We're not going to go for prison for this, right?"

Ranger looked serious. "Is that what you're worried about?"

I nodded.

"Babe," he cupped my cheek now. "The government needs our help. If we break some laws and we can justify it, then we're going to be okay. I promise you that you won't go to prison."

"Good." I thought about it. "Does that mean I can download free movies?"

"No. That has nothing to do with the case."

"What if it's a movie _about_ the case?"

He grinned. "I'd try to break as few laws as possible."

"Spoil sport." I looked at the computer. "I'll finish this one up and head over to see the guys."

Ranger nodded once. "Good. I'm taking Julie out to see her grandparents for lunch, but we should be back by two if there's anything you need to run past me."

I pulled out a notebook and made a note to see the guys. "I'm meeting Natalie today for lunch and we've got some things to discuss. I'll let you know if there's anything that needs your approval."

"Good deal. Later, babe."

I grunted out a reply and went back to the search.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes and a numb butt later, I was on my way to see Woody and Hector. Hector was the only man on the team who didn't speak English. We usually could pantomime our way through a conversation, but I was glad that Woody was going to be there. Hector, true to his Latino name with dark skin and eyes kept his hair skull short. When he saw me come over, his eyes gleamed and he waved.<p>

"Hola, chica."

"Hey Hector. Que pasa?" I asked him. I was glad to see that he still had three teardrop tattoos. He hadn't fallen off the wagon again.

He brightened even more. He seemed generally pleased I could ask him 'what's up' in Spanish.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I googled it on the way over.

Woody joined us a few seconds later. He was all southern heat with golden hair and blue eyes. I just loved his Texas drawl. He and Hector became partners a few months ago, and it seemed to be working out. It was easier to have Hector travel with a human translator than us all walking around with Spanish to English dictionaries. He was usually a loner and I was glad to see that Woody was still alive.

He smiled and pointed to his chair. "Please sit."

"If I sit anymore, I won't have an ass."

"Well we can't have that, darlin'." He drawled. Ooh, it made me shiver.

"What have you guys got so far?"

Hector started typing, pulling all kinds of screens up. Birth certificates, social security cars, marriage license, drivers licenses; the guys had the works.

"Whoa, wait." I looked at my license over Woody's shoulder. "You guys made me twenty eight?"

He faked confusion. "You aren't?"

Be still my heart. I hugged his shoulders. "You're going to get into heaven for that comment alone."

"Glad I have your vote. Now all I need is God's."

The men of Rangeman have been a lot of things to a lot of different people. They've been fighters, peace keepers, referees and of course, mercenaries. Murderers for hire.

This one they hated most.

It made me sad to hear them say dark things like what Woody said. They may feel black in the soul, but all I could see was their light. They protected people now, not killed them. And I believed that they had made a good dent to put their souls in good standing once again. I hugged him once more and then Hector. I was sure he had a pretty good idea what was going on by the looks on our faces.

"It's about what you do _now_, not what you did then. That's what counts."  
>Woody smiled a small smile at me and turned back to the computer. Hector said something in Spanish.<p>

"He wants to know if you want to stay Stephanie or have another name."

Now I always wanted to pick my own name. I had dreamed that one day my real parents would come in and swoop me away and tell me my name was something more exotic than Stephanie.

Those were the bad days with my parents.

"Keep Stephanie. I don't want to screw this up because I can't remember my name."

Woody relayed that and Hector nodded. "Safe choice." He said in his broken English.

This time, I beamed. I went back to looking at the papers.

"Wait, why did you pick June Twenty-third as our anniversary?"

Woody shrugged. "Ranger picked that one. I just think that was the first date he could think of."

No, not Ranger. There was a reason behind it and I was going to find out what it was.

* * *

><p>"So," I said, munching on my turkey sandwich. "I hear you're really putting the screws on Lester."<p>

Natalie nodded and smiled. "I haven't had this much fun in _years_."

We had opted to stay in since our information was sensitive. No need for the Burg to find out what we're doing.

I smiled with her. "It's nice to see him squirm. What are you doing to him?"

"I flirt one minute, and the next, I'm an ice queen."

Huh. I nodded. That was a pretty good B-game. "What are you going to do to up the ante?"

"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking about letting him ravish me one night and then moving onto the next Rangeman I see."

Oh, that was cold. "I'd hold off for a few more days. Really screw with his head, then show up naked at his door."

She grinned wickedly. "I like it." She took a bite of her sandwich. "What's going on with you and Ranger?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You've spent the night to days in a row."

"No I haven't. The first was pure necessity. I needed a shower. And I came from home to run. The second, Julie's here and she wore me out."

"Julie?"

"His daughter? Didn't you know?"

I could see the light bulb go on. "Okay, gotcha. I just never knew her name. I'm all caught up now. So nothing's…?"

"Not a single thing."

"Huh."

I looked up from the paper I was looking at. "What?"

"I just thought…"

"That we were hitting the sheets?"

She shrugged.

"Everyone thinks that, but we're just friends."

"He wants to be more."

I looked at her. She was willing me with her eyes to see it. And trust me, I had. But I wasn't going into that right now. Not with this hanging over our heads. She nodded once, gleaming from my eyes that we would talk later and she picked up a paper.

"What do you think about this for the living room?"

* * *

><p>"So we've got most of the safe house stocked. I'm waiting to hear back from the shipping company. I got your measurements from Ella, so I picked out all your clothes." I smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry, they were all out of black."<p>

He grinned. "Smart ass."

"I hope you like white…"

He ignored me. "Did you pick your clothes?"

"Of course."

"I hope you got lots of lingerie."

I blushed. "Maybe… Too bad you won't see any of it."

"What else." He was amused, but we had some more things to discuss. Ranger was sitting behind his big mahogany desk and I was in one of the cute little club chairs I insisted he buy when Tank broke the last one. The only way Ranger said he'd buy it was if I tested it out with him.

We damn near broke the thing ourselves.

"I checked in with the guys. They said they'll have everything ready to go by Sunday so that's all done. Natalie has secured a safe house down the street so they can monitor us and provide backup."

"Who does she want to bring?"

"Lester, Hal, Hector, Bobby and Tank and a few guys from her office are going to take some shifts."

"Lester." He smirked. "That should be interesting."

"I made her promise to keep things professional when they worked."

"Good idea. He's walking around like he's got his head up his ass."

"Isn't it great?"

"You're enjoying this too much, Babe."

"I know. Let me have my fun. What about Julie?"

"She's staying till Saturday and I'm taking her back to Miami. I'll catch a return flight and be back by Saturday night."

"Good." I wrote that down. "I wanted to have a special dinner with her. Is it okay if I take her out on Friday?"

"Sure, babe." He looked down at his sheet. "Anything else?"

"Natalie and I will have all the figures for you by tomorrow afternoon. Thursday the latest."

"No rush."

We went over a few more things, enjoyed a few more minutes of playful banter and then we were done. I was getting up to leave when I remembered I had wanted to ask him about the anniversary. I knew Ranger too well to let it slip. Every detail had a purpose and usually coincided with whatever he was doing. Since this was about us, I had to think this was a very important date.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I said, whipping around. Ranger turned away from his computer and focused back on me.

"What's up?"

"Why did you pick June twenty third as our wedding anniversary?"

He grinned and got up. "You didn't figure that one out? You're usually good with puzzles, Steph."

I shook my head. "I'm drawing a blank."

He continued to get closer until I was pressed against the door. "Babe." He said, running his finger down my cheek. "It's a very special day."

I shrugged.

He smiled softly at me. "I picked it because it was the day we met. Best day of my life."

Once again, be still my heart.


	6. Chapter 6

So I was hoping to get two chapters out last week, but I got blocked. Thankfully, I worked my way through it in time for the weekly update. I hope that this is also the last chapter before they finally get on with their mission... I know I'm ready for it.

Hope you enjoy! Not mine.

* * *

><p>After my interlude with Ranger, I went home and quickly got into the shower for tonight. I was excited to go out. I needed to blow off some steam, thanks to a certain sexy Cuban.<p>

Stupid Ranger.

I showered, shaved, conditioned, plucked and shlacked in a little over an hour. Hmm, new record.

I was slipping on my black FMP when there was a knock on my door.

I hopped on one foot to the door. "You're right on time. Of course, I really shouldn't expect anything less than… oh crap."

It wasn't Natalie standing at my door, but Joe's new squeeze, Nina. I knew her from sight because I had been in her ambulance so many times. Her brown hair was still in a pony tail and she was still wearing her uniform. I could see the embarrassment written all over her face.

"Uh, hi." I said. "I didn't do it." I blurted out next.

Her brown eyes flickered with confusion. "No, it's nothing bad." She said. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by. I got your address from one of the charts you filled out. I hope that's okay because I can go if… Oh you're going out."

I stepped aside to let her in. "With some friends. It's fine. Usually people break in. It's nice when guests knock. Come on in."

"Thanks." She took a stiff seat on my couch. "I don't mean to drop in on you like this, but I figured we needed to talk."

"About Joe?"

Nina nodded. "I know that you two were together for a long time and…"

"Don't worry. I won't want him back."

She looked relieved for a moment before doubt clouded her face. "You two loved each other for years. How can you say that?"

I sat down next to her and took her hand. "Look, I get why you're here. You even get some points in my book for coming here and having the courage to confront me. But trust me when I say that you have no competition in me. I'm glad that Joe is moving on."

She looked at me for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry I'm acting like the new crazy girlfriend. It's just…"

"You really like him." I said with a small smile.

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. A lot."

"Good. He needs that."

Nina nodded once more and got up. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to be one of those women that realize that they made a big mistake and want the man back. Because I would have to fight you for him and I do fight dirty."

"Good to know. Don't worry, he's all yours."

"Except when you two hang out."

"You're okay with that? I might get all sentimental and want him back."

Her lips twitched. "I'll take my chances."

I liked her. "You're good for him."

She brightened. "Thanks. You know, whenever you get a boyfriend, maybe we can double sometime."

"Sounds good." Not that it was happening any time soon.

"What about that Ranger guy? He looks at you like you're his lunch."

Don't I know it.

I nodded and tentatively agreed to look into it and she left.

* * *

><p>"We'll have two of the biggest and cheapest drink you have." Natalie said to the waiter. He smiled and moved over to the bar.<p>

"Any particular reason why you ordered for me?" I asked her as we took our seats.

"You look like you could use the biggest drink in the world. I just made sure you didn't chicken out when ordering it."

"Well, gee, thanks."

She leaned in. "What _happened_ in that office? Ranger came out looking quite pleased and you came out a few minutes later looking extremely pale. Things aren't adding up."

I smirked at her. "Using your investigative skills on me?"

"More like my snooping skills. They're very good."

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing happened."

"No, no way. Something happened."

I could see that she wasn't going to let this go. I really had two choices. One was lie; tell her he told me something I didn't want to know. Or go with the truth. Tell her about the date.

I still couldn't believe he remembered the exact date. Just when I think I have a handle on him, he completely surprises me.

"I smell smoke." Lester said, coming up behind me and putting an arm around my shoulders.

"Girl stuff. You know, makeup, hair, tampons." Natalie retorted.

I snorted, imagining the horror on Lester's face.

"I need… a beer." Lester scooted away.

"I've never seen him move that fast before!" I said, laughing into the drink that was placed in front of me. It was big, fruity and had an umbrella. I was sold.

Natalie looked at me. "You really aren't going to tell me."

"Nothing to tell." I lied. It was for her own good.

"Look, I know you're mad that I volunteered you for this, but I thought I could give you two the push you needed."

"I knew it!"

"What? So I tried to play matchmaker. Big deal."

I grinned at her. "You were _terrible _at it. I saw right through you."

"Damn, I should know better than to go against the spidey sense."

"Or gotten rid of the glint in your eyes."

"They go next week."

I snorted and took a big sip of my drink.

"I thought you'd be mad. Why aren't you?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Because I could see what you were doing. Plus, I am the obvious choice. You two would act too much like brother and sister and Jeanne Ellen…"

Natalie shivered. "Don't get me started on her. She scares the crap out of me. Is she even human?"

"Who knows?" I said, shrugging.

Before she could go on, Lester, Bobby and Hal joined us at the table. Bobby gave me a small hug and Hal waved, blushing.

"Do you think you could learn to be less of a girl, Hal?" Lester teased.

"Leave him alone!" Natalie exclaimed. "I think it's sweet."

All this did was make Hal blush harder.

"Come on, Hal. Let's dance."

Lester sat down and clutched his beer hard. I patted his arm.

"Everything okay with you?" Bobby asked.

"What is this, check on Stephanie month?"

"Actually, that's in March." Lester retorted.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine dad."

He looked at me for a moment. "Because if you need to talk…"

"What I need is to dance."

"Allow me, Beautiful." Lester held his hand out to me. I graciously accepted. I knew what he was doing, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to work.

"Trying to make Natalie jealous, are we?" I joked.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only if you're blind. Why don't you just ask her out?"

"I will."

"When? After you turn 80?"

"And when are you going to get with Ranger? Everyone knows that'll happen eventually."

I pursed my lips. "Touché."

After sharing a few dances with Lester, Bobby came over and danced with me.

"Are you going to be okay doing this job with Ranger? Because I can talk to him and…"

"Don't you dare!" I yelled. "I can handle him just fine!"

He didn't look convinced. Okay, so _most_ of the time I can handle him. It's just those pocket moments when I can't and my tongue ends up down his throat.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, if I don't do it, who will?"

He thought about that for a minute. "Good point."

"This is what I'm saying."

We danced for a few more minutes and then another Merry Man got his turn.

And that was the last thing I remember.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I was sitting at my desk, my head on my arms. Ugh, God, I got to stop drinking.<p>

I felt my spine tingle before Ranger put his hand on the back of my neck. He placed a bottle of water and Advil next to my head.

"It'll help, Babe."

"My brain grew claws and is trying to escape. _Nothing _is going to help."

That's when I smelled the French Fries. I picked my head up and looked.

"You _do _read my diary!"

Ranger smirked. "Nice glasses, Babe."

I briefly looked at him over my sunglasses. "What? The lights are bright in here." I opened the McDonalds bag and dug into my fries, moaning loudly.

"You are my favorite person in the world right now."

"Ella's making you Mac and Cheese later."

"Oh my God, _she's_ my favorite person."

Ranger smirked again. "Try not to overwork yourself today."

"Don't worry about that." I mumble to his back.

"I heard that."

God, does he have supersonic hearing? Did he get that when he was in the Army? Bitten by a radioactive spider?

I work and stuff my face full of fries when Natalie wanders over. I looked at her and flinched. "You look like crap."

She didn't answer me. Instead, she plopped down into the seat next to me and sighed. I went back to work for a few minutes. After finishing my coke, I was now able to see without needing the aid of sunglasses. Thank god. The screen looked weird.

"I'm going to ask you a question. And I don't want anything but the answer. No shocked faces, no laughing, and certainly no judging."

"God, did you get an embarrassing tattoo last night?"

"No. Worse."

I looked at her and raised my eyebrows.

"I lost my panties."

I blinked. Once, and then again.

"You _WHAT_?" I screeched.

"Shut the hell up! God, that hurts?" She groaned and put her hands over her ears.

I tried to calm down and gritted out, "how can you lose your panties?"

"I have no idea! That's the problem."

"Well, did you go home with someone?"

She bit her lip. "I don't think so."

I put my head down. "Jesus."

"What should I do?"

I honestly had no idea. I shrugged my shoulders as her phone rang.

"That… that… _that bastard!_"

"Who?"

She handed me her phone. She had gotten a picture message from Lester.

_Two can play at that game, _the text said.

Underneath it was a picture of what I was assuming the panties Natalie was wearing last night.

I had to hand it to the guy. When you screwed with him, he screwed back.

"Well, mystery solved."

"We have to get them back."

"No. Oh no. There is no_ we_ in this endeavor. You screwed with him all by yourself. I have enough to think about." I went back to the research I was looking up. "You two go play your crazy games away from my desk." I knew better than to get in between whatever weird form of foreplay this was.

"Fine." Natalie replied. "I can do it." She marched out of my cubicle in search of Lester.

I had a feeling that nothing good was going to come of this.

A few minutes later, my suspicions were right. There was some raised voices… then some yelling. The crescendo came when there was a big _RIIIIP_ noise and a "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" I and a few of the other guys bravely peeked over our cubicles.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Cal asked me.

I shook my head. "Nothing good."

He looked over at Ranger's office. "Thank God it's soundproof."

I nodded again. I also made a mental note about Ranger's office. Mental head slap. We all followed with our eyes as Natalie as she stomped past us to the elevator. Lester passed a few moments later, rubbing his cheek. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I know what you're thinking," he said. "And yes, it was totally worth it."

"Did you…?" I didn't even want to think about one of my best friends violating someone… I shivered.

Shock filled his face. "God no! I was walking her back to her apartment when she flung them at me. I decided to fight fire with fire. I no way would I ever do that."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure."

"Stephanie, you know I only look for willing participants. If I didn't we would've had sex _years_ ago." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

Good grief.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, so I meant to get this out yesterday, but I was running late and then I didn't finish before I had to get to the lab to work. Sorry about that.

I also forgot to mention that someone brought it to my attention that while I was describing Lester, I called him Anglican. I think I was having a slow day and I meant 'Anglo' instead of the other one. For some odd reason, I thought that Anglican was correct. So good catch Babe and if anyone sees anything else, please let me know. I have no Beta (because I prefer my lone wolf status like Ranger when it comes to my writing) and you guys are my second pair of eyes.

Sorry for the long rant, I blame Mountain Dew. It literally makes me nuts.

Not mine, but we all knew that, right?

* * *

><p>"So, did you enjoy the visit with your dad?" I asked Julie. We were enjoying our dinner at a little Italian restaurant Lula and I stumbled upon trying to apprehend our FTA. Donnie DaMicco, who was arrested for indecent exposure, ran past the place. I was right behind him until the garbage can jumped out at me. I found Lula, with a bowl full of pasta, in the restaurant.<p>

To this day, I still don't know how she got a bowl in two minutes.

Julie brightened and looked up from her penne and alfredo sauce. I had fettuccine alfredo with sausage. Not only is it my favorite, it transcends restaurants in tastiness. "It was good. I'm glad I got up here before you guys went on your trip."

I was shocked. I didn't know that he had told her. "How much did Ranger tell you?" I asked, curious to see how much he was telling her.

She took another bite of her penne and shrugged. "Not much. Just that there was a bad guy in Texas and that you and him were going to take care of him."

I nodded. That pretty much summed it up. You know, the PG version of what we were doing. "You and your dad have gotten closer."

"Before everything, we barely talked. He'd send me birthday cards and Christmas gifts, but he was always someone who lived in New Jersey who I shared DNA with. After…" She shrugged. "It was different. He comes for visits and brings gifts instead of sends them. We e-mail and text every week."

"I'm glad to hear that. He should get to know you."

"He's hard to get to know since he's so quiet." She looked at me. "How do you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"He listens to you more than he listens to his own workers."

I blinked. "I don't…"

"He says that Tank is his right hand man, but I think it's actually you."

I sat back from the table. This girl sees more than everyone thinks she does. She was her father's daughter. I smiled at her. "I see so much of your father in you."

"Thanks. Don't change the subject."

Oh man, she was going to be a killer with the boys when she got to that age. "But it's not true. He value

Tank's opinion more than mine."

She rolled her eyes in true New Jersey fashion. "Right. And I'm the tooth fairy. For an adult who claims to know more than kids, you sure do miss a lot."

I had no response to that. She was right. I do miss some things.

But in no way was I going to tell her that.

"Eat your dinner." I said.

She smirked. "That's the same voice that my mother uses when she's deflecting because I'm right."

My heart did a flip flop. I wanted to think about that, but for two reasons, I really couldn't. One, there wasn't a bed nearby so no thinking position. And two, anything personal about Ranger and our relationship is being filed for later.

* * *

><p>"Did you girls have fun?" Ranger asked Julie when we got back from dinner.<p>

"Yep! I'm stuffed." She rubbed her stomach as she placed the leftovers in the fridge. "I'm going to call Mom."

Ranger nodded and turned back to me. "Any leftovers for you?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Please. Have you met me? I inhaled that sucker in five minutes."

Ranger grinned.

"I had a good time with your daughter. She's so much like you. She can read me like a book, just like you."

"Babe, half the stuff you say out loud and the other half is written all over your face." He teased. "She was excited for a week when I told her you wanted to have dinner."

"She's growing up on you."

"I know. It's too fast."

We looked over at her. "What?" She said.

Ranger shook his head. I giggled.

I looked over at Ranger and was surprised to see a wistful look on his face. "You're going to miss her." I said, shock coloring my voice.

"Sure I will. She's my daughter."

I shook my head. "It's more than that. You've done a complete one-eighty since I met you. Before, you would've shied away from her. Now, you act like her father."

"I am her father."

"I know, but now you're acting the part."

"You're not making any sense."

"I'm glad to see you changing. It gives me hope."

He looked at me for a minute. "You'll figure it out, Steph. You always do."

"I wish I could be as confident as you."

"Trust me, Babe." He said, turning his head back to Julie. "You have more confidence in one pinky than most of the guys in the office do."

"Including you?"

"Don't push it."

I glowed for a second and then remembered the time. "I'll be back on Sunday."

He nodded. "Plane leaves at eight. We'll meet here at seven."

I waved to Julie. "I'll be there."

Ranger pulled me in and kissed me softly. "Everything will be fine."

"Mmhmm." Mental head slap. Why after so many years of friendship does he still make me stupid with one kiss?

Ranger just grinned. "Later, Babe."

"Yep."

* * *

><p>"I don't get it." My mother asked when I joined them for dinner. "You're going <em>where<em>?"

"Texas." I replied, shoveling more mashed potatoes onto my plate.

"Why?"

"Work, mom."

"For how long?" she added a piece of meat loaf onto my plate. My mother worries through food.

"Ma, I don't know. For as long as it takes."

"Stop grilling the girl, Helen, for Christ's sake." My father said when he came up for air.

I had decided to have one more family meal before shoving of to Stepfordland as I was now calling it. The place where dreams are crushed and babies are popped out.

Silly me for thinking that my family would be normal for one night.

"I remember Ranger." Val piped in. "He was sexy."

"And you wanted to marry him."

Albert's head popped up. "What?" Potatoes fell out of his open mouth.

"That was before, snookiekins. When my hormones were wacky."

Snookiekins. Ugh, I'm going to throw up.

I looked over at Angie. She rolled her eyes.

Maybe there was some Mazur blood in her after all. I winked at her and she smiled.

"But I came to my senses and married you."

Only because I knew if I had actually asked Ranger if he would marry my sister, he would've ran as fast as he could away from me.

Albert, finally soothed, went back to his meal. A few months ago, my dad took Albert to the garage. They shared a cigar and my father told him about the lay of the land. Ever since then, he has taken to acting like my father and keeping his head down as much as possible.

My mother hasn't had to replace her tablecloth in six weeks.

"I wonder what he wears under all that black." Grandma piped in. She was eighty, going on two hundred that loved to act like she was sixteen.

If we could all be so lucky when we get to that age.

My mother crossed herself. "God, why me?"

Grandma turned to me. "Do you know?"

I swear, every fork stopped. Mary Alice, who was using her face instead of a fork (she still thinks she's a horse), lifted her head.

"You had better not." My mother scolded. "I raised you Catholic."

"What did you think she was doing with Joe? Baking cookies?"

Sometimes there were cookies involved. Mental head slap.

My mother crossed herself again.

"Well?" Grandma asked me.

"Well what?"

They all waited.

No way was I answering that one. I'd rather diffuse a bomb than tackle that question. I turned to my father. "So, how about them Rangers?"

"What?"

My mother sighed. Grandma groaned. Everyone else went back to eating.

Crisis averted.

As I was leaving, dad pulled me aside. "You'll be safe on this trip?"

My father always knew more than he was letting on. I could tell that he knew _exactly _what Ranger and I were going to do. I nodded. "As safe as we can be prepared."

"And if something happens?"

"Ranger's covered all his bases."

He nodded now. "Good." He paused for a minute. "You know, I really like that boy. More than I ever liked Joe. He stole my cookies when I thought he wasn't looking."

I laughed.

"But not Ranger. Not even once. I left my plate alone and he didn't even touch it."

"That's because he doesn't eat cookies very often."

"Even better."

"I love you dad." I hugged him tightly. He stammered an 'I love you' back and blushed while scurrying back to his chair.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I woke slowly. Today was the day.<p>

I was going to be Ranger's pretend wife.

Butterflies filled my stomach as I showered and dressed. I pulled on a self-respecting blue blouse and nice dark jeans. This way, I would look cool and sophisticated with a hint of sexy.

I slipped on my black boots and was touching up my make-up when there was a knock on my door.

"Hamster sitters." Joe called out.

"I was going to drop him off." I said, coming out into the living room.

"Yeah, well I was passing buy, so…"

I smiled. "You were at Nina's."

He blushed. I had never seen Joe blush before. "Yeah."

"Good for you!" I went over and got a replacement soup can and his crunchies. "Just feed him whenever you get home. And if you're not going to be home for a while, just leave some and he'll graze."

"You know, I did take care of him while you lived with me."

"Shut up. I'm already nervous as it is. Just let me do this."

"Stephanie," he said, putting his arms around me. "You'll be fine. Ranger's going to protect you. It's second nature to him." He smiled softly. "Like it was what he was born for."

I hugged Joe. "You know I love you right?"

"Yeah. I love you too."

We let go and I tapped on Rex's cage. "Be good for Uncle Joe."

Rex wiggled his butt.

"I guess that means he will." Joe translated. "Have a good time."

"Yeah, right. This is going to be a blast."

He grinned once more and left.

A few minutes later, I grabbed my bags and headed out. I drove myself over to Rangeman and we would leave from there to the private airport. Natalie got us a nice DEA plane.

"You nervous?" Natalie asked when I had gotten out of my car.

"A little."

"Well don't worry. You'll have Ranger with you on the inside and me, Tank, Bobby and Lester will monitor the cameras and mics that we put all over the house only a street away. Any time you need to get out of there for a moment, come to us."

I nodded. I took a deep breath. Knowing that they were so close made my gut churn less.

Ranger and Tank were still upstairs doing whatever it is that they do and Bobby was making sure he had all the supplies he needed while Lester was ominously cleaning his gun.

"Any particular reason why?" I asked him.

"Nope. I want it to look good."

"He's bringing a whole can of gun cleaner." Bobby said, snickering.

I grinned. "Just don't kill anyone."

"If she starts it, I'll finish it."

I just rolled my eyes. At that moment, Tank, Ranger and Hal walked off the elevator.

Ranger came straight to me. "You okay, Babe?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're trembling."

Oh. That's why my hands looked funny. I took a deep breath and the trembling slowed. Ranger smiled.

"Better." He looked at the others for a minute. "Can you give us a minute?"

The guys nodded and walked a safe distance away.

"Last chance." He said.

"For?"

"To get out of this. Once we start, we can't stop. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Inside, some small part of me was screaming 'NO!' but the other part wanted me to soldier on. I couldn't let the guys and Natalie down.

I especially couldn't let Ranger down. I closed my eyes and centered myself.

When I opened them, I said, "I'm good."

Ranger looked into my eyes and cupped my cheek. "I'll protect you until I can't anymore."

Oh boy, that sounded ominous. Ranger shook his head. "Don't worry. We aren't expecting something to happen, but just know that I will."

I nodded and smiled. "Let's hit the road, hubby."

Ranger grinned. He nodded to the guys and we started to pile into the SUV. Ranger tugged me back by my collar. "Call me that again and there will be a punishment."

I shivered. I had a feeling I might like the punishment.

Hmm, something to remember.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, so once again, I'm a little late. RL has been really busy for me and I haven't given as much time as I usually do to my stories. That and the details of this story are still a little sketchy. I'll try to continue to post once a week, so bear with me. We will get to the end!

For the next chapter, I was thinking some Lester/ Natalie action. Who would like that?

Not mine. Only the story and the mistakes.

* * *

><p>I sighed and fought the urge to roll my eyes for the tenth time. Natalie and Ranger were really getting into their roles.<p>

Instead of just randomly showing up one day and moving in (which I was all for that plan), Natalie decided to play fake realtor and show us the house.

Personally, I think it was because she had been stuck on a plane with Lester for a few hours and she was going crazy. Better her play fake realtor than to have to explain to Huston PD why we were hiding a body.

Right now, she was acting so perky that all I wanted to do was slap her.

Maybe we should rethink the whole killing Lester thing.

Ranger looked back at me and grinned. He was enjoying this!

I bet this has something to do with my punishment.

Ranger put his arm around my shoulder. "Not even close, Babe. When you least expect it, I'll strike." He whispered in my ear as we entered the house behind Natalie.

I shivered.

She shut the door after we had entered the foyer and sighed loudly. "Finally. Ugh, I don't understand how people can be that perky. Jesus, slap the person and make sure they switch to decaf."

Ah, there she was. My friend was back.

"Okay, we've moved all the furniture in and added a few things for Stephanie…"

"Me?" I perked up.

She nodded. "My thank you gift. I was told that you need sugar to survive so we got you a couple of cases of TastyKakes. They're not regularly shipped out here, so I pulled some strings."

"_Cases_? You bought me _cases_?"

"Sure did."

I sighed. "I love you."

She grinned. "I also got you a few bath salts. Very soothing for when this one goes apeshit." She said, nodding her head at Ranger.

Ranger at least attempted to look insulted. Attempted, but failed.

"Of course for you, we have your own gadget palace. Full of guy crap to tinker with. That's for when you want to strangle her."

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

Ranger grinned now. I punched him in the shoulder.

"Now with that out of the way, let me show you where we installed the cameras."

We went through the house room by room and noted where the cameras and mics were. Each room was more beautiful than the last. The furniture was done all in earth tones to make the colored walls pop even more. Red for the living room, green for the dining room, yellow for the kitchen and bathrooms and a nice soft blue for the bedroom. Throw pillows and assorted bedding coincided with the color of the walls. Mahogany wood galore. I wanted to live here for real.

As we passed the kitchen, I grabbed one of my cakes. Hmm, butterscotch…

"For your privacy, we haven't installed anything major in the bathrooms or bedrooms." She was saying as I licked my fingers. "Just in case, when you guys go to sleep, there will be a motion detecting camera that will switch on when it detects footsteps on the carpet. If we deem it a threat, we'll let you know. If you're getting up for a late night snack," she said to me when I opened my mouth. "We'll see that it's you and turn the camera off."

"How will you know it's not just the bed moving?" I asked blatantly.

"Babe." Ranger said, grinning.

"What? I move in my sleep. Violently."

Natalie's eyes twinkled. "It can tell the difference between a person and a bed. A person will have all the weight on their feet while the bed distributes it to the four legs.

"Also, there are some high res mics in the hallway, so if you're in trouble and the camera doesn't pick it up, knock something over or scream and we should hear you. Also…" She stopped and grinned again.

"What? Why did you stop?"

"I think someone's not listening."

Huh?

She pointed at Ranger. Who was looking at me.

With _very_ black eyes.

Oh boy.

"While you're _figuring things out_," he whispered, "please try to keep things like that to a minimum. Because I'm not sure how long I'll be able to handle it."

I popped my finger out. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I love it when you moan."

Oh my.

Natalie was smiling widely at us now. "Do you two have any questions or should I just leave you alone now?"

Ranger raised an eyebrow to me. I shook my head.

"Good. Then let's get this party started!"

Natalie left soon after we gave her a fake check and shook her hand as if we had closed a deal. Ranger brought the SUV we were using around the corner and started to bring stuff in. I started to unpack the boxes.

When I reached a wedding picture of us, I snorted. "When did you guys take this?" I asked him when he brought a box marked 'kitchen' in.

"Sometime last week." He shrugged. "Hector did it."

"What did he take a picture of my head and glue it onto some woman's body?" I was slightly offended.

Ranger sat the box down and took the picture from my hand. He stared at it for a minute and grinned as he gave it back to me. "That's you, Babe."

I snorted. "You can't really tell."

Ranger looked serious. "I can and I'll prove it." He took the picture back and pointed to a small dot. "There."

"There what? It looks like a smudge."

He grinned again and shook his head. "That's the mole you have on your left breast."

My eyes were wide when I looked at him. "How…?"

Ranger's eyes were full of heat. "You forget, Stephanie, that I was once _very intimate_ with you and that mole."

I flushed.

He shrugged now. "They probably took one of the pictures of you from a distraction and made it into a wedding dress." He grinned. "Hector's the best at that."

"Why didn't we just take a real one?"

He shrugged again. "Hector likes a challenge."

I guess I really couldn't fault him for that. I shrugged and put the picture on the shelf. Ranger went back to the car and finished unloading. I continued to unpack frame after frame of doctored pictures Hector had come up with. Of course, for good measure, Hector had thrown in some real ones. Like the Christmas photo of us and the guys.

I think that one was going on the mantel.

"Where do you want these?" Ranger asked me, carrying my bags up the stairs.

I rolled my eyes. "In our bedroom." Why did he ask such a stupid question?

"Babe."

"What?"

He actually looked nervous. "I don't want to push you into anything."

"You're not. We're adults. We can share a room."

"_We_ can, sure. I don't know if _I_ can."

I think I swooned a little. "Ranger…"

He just shook his head. "Later. Which one?"

I pointed to the smaller room. He grinned and took my stuff to the larger room.

"Hey!" I followed after him.

"I know you better than you seem to think, Babe. Take the bigger room. You know you want to."

Damn him. I did. "Are you sure?"

He didn't even dignify the question with a response. He opened the doors and I gasped.

"Oh my," I sighed.

The room was done in light blues with a wonderful view out the back windows. There was even a couch with a TV on the opposite side of the bed.

"Screw the mission. I'm never leaving here." I mumbled.

Ranger grinned. "I can't do that. Everyone will think I murdered you since they spent the better half of the day on their lawns watching us move in."

"What?"

"Welcome to the suburbs in Texas, Babe. Things here are definitely different than in Trenton."

I'll say. I grinned. "I think they were watching _you_."

He looked up from the box he was unpacking. "What?"

"This new piece of sexy man moves in next door and they're all taking a good peek."

He grinned. "Did you peek?"

I shrugged. "Peeked? Please. Been there, seen that."

Okay, so he didn't need to know that I peeked, stared and drooled. I turned away from him and made sure I was drool-free. Hey! I'm human. And Ranger is very sexy.

When I turned around, Ranger hadn't moved, but his smile was bigger.

"What?"

"You think I'm sexy."

Damn! "Out loud?" I sighed.

"Yep."

"So what? You know you're sexy."

"Yeah," he said coming up next to me and putting his arm around my shoulder. "But it's nice to hear it from my wife."

I rolled my eyes. "Get a grip. We're not really married."

His smile faltered a little. "Only until you sleep with me. _Then_ it's official."

I punched him in the gut and went back to unpacking. I had nothing to say to that.

"Babe." Ranger said as he put his hands on my shoulders, gently kneading the muscles. "Relax. I was kidding."

"I know. I didn't have a pithy response for you."

He put his forehead into my hair and sighed. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

I turned and looked him straight in the eyes. "Positive." And I was okay with the teasing. Actually, I enjoyed it. It made our relationship feel more normal than in the past.

At first when I told him I was off men, it was strained. Mostly because no one believed me. But after a month, everyone got in my corner and cheered me on. I was finally acting like a grown up and they were supporting me every step of the way.

Ranger and Joe came around a few months after that.

He stared at me for a moment and then nodded. "I'm going for a run."

"Good." As he walked away, I smacked his butt. "Wear something skimpy for your public."

He smirked at me. "Smartass."

"You love my ass."

For a moment his eyes turned serious, then they shifted back to playful. "Try to be aware of your surroundings."

"Don't get shot." I mumbled to his back.

A few minutes after Ranger left, there was a knock on the door.

"What, did you get tackled by all the…" I started to say and then stopped.

Anne Souffe was standing on my front stoop.

Man, I should just answer the door like a normal person!

"Uh, hi." I said, nervously. Now, I wasn't really scared of her or her husband, I just didn't want to look like a crazy person and screw this whole thing up hours into our plan.

But she smiled a large, toothy grin at me. "Hi there. I heard you were moving in and I made this welcome basket for you."

"Oh how thoughtful." I said, completely charmed by her accent. "Please, come in."

My mother would have been so proud.

"Sorry the place is such a mess." I said, looking embarrassed. She stuck out like a sore thumb in her pink jogging suit.

"Not a problem. Our house looked like a disaster area until we were unpacked." She grinned at me again and flipped her blonde hair back. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I've got it all under control." I carried the basket to the kitchen. Looking inside, I was surprised to find a few cleaning supplies, a roll of toilet paper, a gift card to the local steakhouse, toothbrushes, detergent and some pieces of fruit. "This is really great."

"Oh it was nothing." She said, waving her hand. "Just something I threw together this morning."

This _morning_? Jesus, I'd need a week just to get the basket. I gave her a small smile and started putting things away.

I wasn't sure what to say next, but then thankfully, Ranger came through the door.

Thank god. I smiled and walked over to him.

"Oh, I wasn't aware we had company." He said, shocked to find Anne in our kitchen.

"This is Anne. She brought us a welcome basket."

He came over and looked at it. "How nice. Thank you. I'm Carlos."

"It's wonderful to meet you." She said, shaking his hand.

"I'll leave you two to chat. I probably stink."

I grabbed his shirt. "Please don't leave me." I muttered as silently as I could.

He grinned. "You're doing great."

I still didn't let go of the shirt. "I'll give you a million dollars."

"You don't _have_ a million dollars. Let me go."

"Fine." I gritted.

We watched as Ranger left.

"Man that is one fine husband. What does he do for a living?"

Don't I know it? Uh oh. I couldn't remember what he did.

Stupid Ranger ass. Killing brain cells all over the country. I quickly changed the subject. "Do you want something to drink?"

"You know, there is a nice soothing tea in there. Do you have a tea strainer?"

Yikes.

Day one, not going so well.


	9. Chapter 9

Yay! I got this out sooner than I thought! Good deal for all involved...

I hope you love the Natalie/ Lester action... I had a little fun...

Not mine. Just the plot and all mistakes people find (and some I find months later).

* * *

><p>"Okay, I think we should abort." I said, barging into the bathroom and ripping the shower curtain open.<p>

"Jesus, is this payback or something?" Ranger said, shocked that I was in there. His head whipped around to look at me.

"No. Why would it be?" I blinked at him. "Back to my earlier statement."

His shoulders relaxed, clearly seeing this as a fixable problem. "We're not aborting."

"Why not? I don't think I can do this. Maybe get Natalie in here and we can tell everyone I'm her sister! Yeah, that'll work!"

"Sure, it'll work for about five seconds until people start to wonder why the married man is making lusty eyes at the sister."

I snorted. "Lusty eyes?" Did he really just say that? Out of all the things he's ever said to me, that one seems to be the most ridiculous.

Ranger glared at me. "You know what, I'm in the shower. I don't have to be witty."

Then it dawned on me.

Ranger _was _in the shower.

Wet.

Naked.

I tried to look at my shoes, but I never quite made it.

He was fully aroused.

I looked at the ceiling and thought about anything other than Ranger's large, now throbbing (holy cripes!) member.

I could feel Ranger mentally laughing at me.

"This is the price you pay, Babe, for interrupting my shower." He whispered in my ear. Oh man, his wet skin was so close and all I wanted to do was lick my way down…

I may have moaned. Quite loudly in fact if we were going by Ranger's laughter.

"Now what's the real problem?"

"I can't do this."

He shook his head. "That's half the story. What's the other half?"

I blew out a sigh and continued staring at the wall. "I forgot your cover story."

He blinked. Twice. "What did you forget?"

"Where you worked. I didn't say anything because I was completely flustered." The _by your ass_ thankfully stayed internal.

"I'm an importer of computer chips. Is that all?"

"No. What the hell is a tea strainer?"

"It does exactly what you think it does. It strains tea. It's the other option to the bag. And it makes better tea. There's one in the small box on the island."

"Is there anything you don't know?"

"How many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop." He said stoically.

"Har har. Funny man laughing at my pain." _Of course, he probably knows how many licks to the center of _my _tootsie pop_, I thought mentally. Holy crap. I have to get out of this bathroom.

His eyes were dark and his voice was husky. "Eight with a few flicks thrown in."

I blushed. Hard. "Damn it! Out loud again?"

"Completely." His face turned serious. "Look," he cupped my cheek. "Take a deep breath and calm down the crazy look in your eye. You're doing great so far. Most people would have made up so many lies already that they couldn't keep them all straight. And when that happens, people die. You are up here making sure that you have everything right and that's a _hell_ of a lot smarter than some of the guys I've worked with before. When I went on my run, I didn't see any terribly difficult security around the house, so when Natalie gets the warrant, we'd like to put some bugs in. Why don't you go down there, charm her with your New Jersey charm and invite her and her husband over for dinner. Lester and Bobby can have time to plant some bugs and look through some things."

I did what Ranger said and took a deep breath. Surprise must have been on my face because Ranger nodded. "See?" He said. "Worked, right?"

"No one likes a smarty pants." I opened the door and sauntered out.

"Aw, Babe, no fair!"

I grinned to myself. We both knew that I almost said 'smartass', but I figured after that last comment, he needed to suffer.

He's not the only one that can dish out punishment.

"Sorry about that." I said to Anne. "I needed to tell my husband to add tampons to the grocery list."

"Oh no big deal. I completely understand." Anne waved her hand at me. "My Richard needs to be told three or four times to take out the trash."

"Now, about that tea…" I said, heading right for the box Ranger told me about. And sure enough, I found the strainer.

Go me!

As I made the tea, I tried to act as nonchalantly as I could. "You know, I don't know anyone here yet and I spend pretty much every day alone since Carlos is on the road so much with his job with shipping computer parts and what not. We don't get out much and I would love it if us and our husbands could get together and have dinner. Just so we can start making friends before it's too late and awkward."

Anne brightened. "That would be fantastic! There are some ladies on the block that I _know_ you'll just love as well! So when your husband is out of town, then you'll have someone to talk to."

I sat the mugs down. "Sounds great!" I said, feeling nervous. Great, more housewives to fake in front of. But before any more negative thoughts could get into my head, I followed Ranger's advice and took a deep breath.

Once again, I was stunned at how well that worked.

Stupid Ranger.

We chatted for a few more minutes when Anne realized that she had a prior engagement.

"But I will definitely call you after I talk to Richard! We'll set a date!"

"Great!"

I shut the door and sighed.

"She gone?" Ranger asked from behind me.

"God!" I put a hand to my heart. "That's it. I'm getting you a bell." He just grinned at me. Thankfully he had found some clothes. I was worried he was going to come down here in a towel and I knew that if he did, my heart would have stopped. "Yeah, she's gone. Good idea about the dinner do you think that…"

Ranger stuck a finger up in the air and stopped me. He went over to a box and grabbed a pen.

_Bugs in basket?_ He wrote.

"What? No, I didn't look for…" He stopped me again.

_Wait till I check it._

"Jeez." I rolled my eyes. He just grinned at me some more. I followed him into the kitchen as he searched every inch of the basket.

"Paranoid much?" I asked him when he called the all clear.

"Careful is the words I'd use. I'm going to call Lester and have him do a deeper search."

"Potato, potahto." I murmured.

Ranger winked at me as he talked to Lester. "He'll be here in a half an hour. They're getting the shift schedule all worked out."

I nodded and went back into the kitchen and started to unpack. Ranger picked up my mug of tea. "Not bad."

"How did you know that one was mine?"

He shrugged. "Took a stab."

"That's just gross."

He grinned again.

* * *

><p><strong>Bobby's POV<strong>

"Ranger wants you to pick up something and scan it for bugs." I said to Lester. He grunted from the seat next to me and continued to clean his gun. The house was pretty much set up the same way that Ranger and Stephanie's house was set up, minus the good furniture. We had set up camp in the living room by moving the couch and setting up the surveillance table (which was just a large card table and plastic chairs facing computer monitors), and furnished two bedrooms for shift sleeping. If there were fewer beds, we were less likely to fall asleep and screw this up.

And the last thing we needed was the two of them screwing up and getting killed.

"Dude." I said, kicking his chair.

"I heard you!" Lester said, sounding annoyed.

"Whoa, back off man, you were so intent on getting that speck of lint off that I wasn't sure you heard me."

"Loud and clear, dumbass." He mumbled.

I went back to watching the monitors.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me. "Jesus, stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting."

"You so are." He sounded like the normal Lester. Pre-Natalie Lester.

I miss that guy.

"I'm just waiting for that bottom lip to protrude."

"Shut up."

We sat in silence for a minute. Tank and Natalie went out to get supplies and Lester and I were monitoring Stephanie and Ranger. Everything was going smoothly so far.

I was keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the trip.

Lester sighed. "Spit it out, man."

"What?"

"Whatever's making you pout."

"I'm _not_ pouting."

Lester just waited. He turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

Not that I was ever going to tell him, but when he did that, he looked _exactly _like Ranger when he did that.

"Have you slept with her?" I asked him.

"Who?"

Who indeed. "Natalie! Who else?"

"Stephanie, that woman down the street, the girl at the car rental…"

"Okay I get it. Just answer the question."

"No."

I was stunned. "_No_?"

He didn't look up, but continued to clean his gun.

"_Why_?"

He stopped now. "It hasn't come up."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I blinked and waited for him to continue.

"Look, it's not that I don't want to…" He sighed. "It's that she's so hot and cold that I can't figure her out."

I looked at him for a minute and then started to laugh. "Oh man, she's playing you."

"Yeah, got that one, dumbass."

"No. She's _really_ playing you!" He glared at me, making my laughs increase. "How many women have you called since you started this game?"

He thought about it. "None."

"How many have you thought about other than her?"

He blinked for a minute. "Son of a bitch!"

"Yep. She's good."

"I can't believe her!"

"I can. You're hard to get through. She has in a very sneaky way. I like her more now."

Tank and Natalie chose that moment to come back. Tank, Lester and I were all wearing our black Rangemen uniforms. Natalie looked strikingly different in her yellow dress and green purse. She had put her hair up into a ponytail and was removing the sunglasses from her eyes. Tank dropped the keys on the sideboard and took two of the bags into the kitchen. "We got you your jerky, Bobby."

"Great, thanks."

"Hey there, sweet thang." Lester said to Natalie when she bent down to give me my jerky.

She looked at him funny. "What the hell are you on?"

"Just you. I'm so addicted and I never want to go to rehab."

I just rolled my eyes. He was pulling out every line he could think of.

"Aw that's so sweet, baby!"

Ha! I love her.

Lester looked shocked, but recovered quickly. "Anything for you sweetums."

Okay, I might gag. I looked at Tank, who was shaking his head. He didn't want any part of this.

"You know, if you need _anything_, I'll make sure to get it personally." She batted her eyelashes now.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

She winked now. "You do that." She straightened. "By the way, the pharmacist said that the herpes medication should be in by tomorrow. I'm sure, like your herpes, that should be all over the city by then as well. I showed him a picture." And she walked away.

Strutted was more like it.

Not that she didn't deserve to.

"What?" Lester shot out of his chair. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"That's what you get for _ruining _my panties!"

"Oh please, you did that all by yourself!"

"Well if you didn't have your grubby hands…"

"Next time, don't throw them at me!"

"I didn't _throw_ them at you. I…"

"Oh you _threw_ sweetheart. You have nice aim."

"You're disgusting!"

"You're crazy!"

She stormed to her room.

"I'm going for a beer. Send Tank to Ranger." And he stormed out.

Tank and I stood there, motionless.

Natalie came back out. "Is he gone?"

"Yep." I said.

"Good."

"Did you really give the pharmacist his picture?" Tank asked.

"Nope." She popped the p.

Tank and I grinned at her. "You're perfect for him."

She smiled and winked at us before flouncing out.

"There's no place like home, huh?" Tank said, clapping his hand on my shoulder.

"Exactly what I was thinking, brother."


	10. Chapter 10

Yay! I got it out! Thank goodness. I was having some trouble, but for you dear fans, I pushed through it. I hope you enjoy!

Not mine. The only thing I can take credit for is the mistakes. Oh and Natalie and Nina. They're completely mine.

* * *

><p>"No? What do you mean no?" I asked Joe. "Come on, it'll only be for a few days."<p>

"I'm not helping you or your team."

"You wouldn't be helping _me_." I said, pacing through the family room. I could feel Ranger's eyes tracking my movements.

And it was making it hard to think.

So I consistently looked away. I helped. Sort of.

"It's more along the lines of you helping ATF." I continued.

"No. Nina will kill me."

"Aww, you're worried about your girlfriend?" I said, sneering.

"I don't appreciate that petulant tone."

Natalie and Lester were at it again. We've been here for two days and they've already done the whole middle school cooties thing.

I'm afraid they've moved on to the high school version. Now she's trying to get me to have Joe come down and flirt mercilessly with her. Just to make him jealous.

I hope they have sex soon. All this is making me nuts.

"Tell Natalie to find one of those hot farmers and make him jealous that way. What, are we in high school?"

"That's what I said!"

"You know how much I want to stick it to one of Ranger's men, especially Lester, but I just can't right now."

"I'll give you fifty dollars to do it."

"That'll barely cover my gas for a week."

"Well if you won't do it for me, do it for Ranger."

"Jesus no. I'd rather lick a flag pole during winter than do anything for Ranger."

"Well you tell him that because he won't believe me. Hold on. I'll put you on speaker." I pulled the phone away from my ear and hit 'speaker'.

"Jesus, Cupcake don't put me on speaker. I don't want to talk to that crazy man."

"Aw, I miss you too sweetheart." Ranger said.

Joe paused. I laughed behind my hand.

"Hey Ranger. How are things?"

"Good."

I look him off speaker. "I'll talk to you later."

"You suck."

"Bye Joe. Tell your girlfriend I say hi." When I hung up, I laughed out loud.

"That was mean, Babe."

"Well I'm bored. What else is there to do?" I found the closest camera. "No go." I told Natalie.

_Damn, I'll think of something else_, she texted back. _By the way, basket was bug free._

"Don't you think this behavior is childish?"

"Sure," I said, shrugging. "But they're bored too. By the way, Mister Paranoid, the basket was clean."

He nodded. "I figured. Well we're having dinner with the targets tonight so they should be prepping for that."

"Don't call them that. They're names are Anne and Richard."

"And one of them is a gun runner." He grabbed my hands and sat me down on the couch. "You're not getting attached, are you?"

"No! Of course not!"

He sighed. "Try not to let it cloud your judgment. I know you can't help it, but I need you level headed."

"I'll try. I'm not_ that_ attached."

He just nodded.

Except I was, a little. Anne was just an innocent bystander. How could I not get emotionally involved? She was being lied to by the man she loved.

I looked over at Ranger. He never looked sexier. He was in his normal black shirt and black pants, feet bare, intensely cleaning his gun.

"You've never lied to me, right?" I asked him, putting my feet into his lap.

He stopped cleaning his gun and looked at me. "No, I've never outright lied to you. I've held some things back but I've never lied. I told you enough to send you in the right direction. You usually figured out the rest yourself."

I felt my blood pressure rise. "You should have told me _everything_ that you knew, when you knew it!"

He grabbed my feet as I was trying to get them off his lap. "Would you rather I kept you in the dark? Would it have been easier to hear that I had been lying to you? Believe it or not, Stephanie, I did it to _protect_ you!"

I swallowed. "Why?"

"Because you keep forgetting how well I know you." He gave me a small, sad smile. "I knew that you would want to solve the problem yourself and going in half cocked would have gotten you killed sooner. You felt like you had something to prove, so you weren't taking anyone's help. I figured giving you the information in bits and pieces that you would be more willing to let me help you. Your pride wouldn't have gotten in the way. I may have not told you everything in once sitting, but I have _never_ lied to you."

He was right. If he had told me everything that I needed to know right away, I would have never asked him for anything again. It would have felt too easy. That I wasn't doing the work I should have been doing.

Shit. I felt like such a fool. For a minute, I was actually comparing him to Joe. Joe never wanted to tell me anything. He left me blind and I had to find everything out on my own. Which usually lead to a stalker or a blown up car because I was trying to do my job. If he had let me in, I may not have such crazy insurance. Ranger, on the other hand, had let me in more than I had ever expected. I shook my head. Ranger was _not_ Joe and I should stop thinking of him that way.

Maybe that was my problem. If I spend too much time comparing the two men in my life, how am I going to be able to decide?

Of course, I had already let Joe go, so who was I comparing Ranger to anymore?

Heavy thoughts.

Ranger waited patiently for me to finish the conversation going on in my head. "Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"If there was ever a time when I needed to know _everything_ right then, you told me, right?"

He stared me straight in the eye. "Yes."

And I believed him. "Okay. I'm sorry I got angry."

"I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you right before you got angry."

This is usually the time when couples have make-up sex.

Ranger's eyes dilated, as if he could read my mind. My forehead started to sweat.

"I need to shower." I said when Ranger moved closer.

He backed up and put his hands to his face. "That's probably a good idea." The _I'm sorry_ was implied in his voice.

I scurried upstairs and grabbed my clothes. Remembering the cameras, I shut the bathroom door before undressing. No need to give the guys a cheap thrill.

I took my time in the shower; cleaning my hair, scrubbing and exfoliating my body, and making sure every part that needed to be tended to, was. When I got out, I put lotion all over my body and another towel around my head.

Slipping on the outfit I had picked out, I felt some of my confidence come back. I slipped the black pants and red blouse, fluffed my hair and went back to the living room.

I was just making my way down the stairs when the doorbell rang.

"Showtime." Ranger said to me. He opened the door and waved our guests in.

* * *

><p>This was the first time that I've had a good look at Richard. He was about the same height as Ranger, but he had less muscle. His hair was a muddy brown and military short. He stood straight and his brown eyes missed nothing.<p>

"This is my wonderful husband, Richard." Anne said, introducing us. "That's Carlos and his wife Stephanie."

"It's nice to meet you." He said in a gravelly voice. "I wasn't sure what to bring, the red or the white, so I brought both."

"Stephanie has prepared a wonderful roast, so the red will go nicely." He gestured them to the dining room. "Please."

I snagged his arm as we followed them. "Stephanie did what?"

"Don't worry, Ella had some premade meals made for this."

"God I love her."

He pulled out his phone. "I'm going to tell Lester they have the green light and then I'll be in. You go play the good little wife."

"Sure, I'll do that." I said, coming around so I faced him. "But if you ever say that again, I'll make sure your last meal on this earth is your balls."

"Ooh, saucy."

"You know it."

The dinner was going smoothly. We talked about what our husbands did, the weather, football (I muddled my way through that, but Ranger covered nicely), the government (touchy for both men) and all the little boutiques that I needed to check out.

"How about we take our coffee into the living room?" I asked, starting to pick up the dishes.

Ranger and Richard shrugged. I had a feeling if Richard wasn't bad, they would be best friends.

"I'd love to get your input on some importing deals I have in the works. I have a feeling I'm being screwed." Ranger said, encouraging the move.

Anne and I cleaned up the dining room and she went to the bathroom while I got the coffee ready.

When it was done, I poured the cups and took them into the other room. Ranger was missing, but Richard was studiously looking at our photos.

"You made a nice bride, Stephanie."

"Thank you."

He moved closer to me. "Your husband is a lucky man."

"I tell him that every day." He stepped closer. "Where is he?"

"Getting some papers he wanted me to look over."

Ranger chose that moment to come back in. I sighed in relief. My spidey sense was tingling and not in a good way.

While they did that, Anne and I chatted for a few more minutes. Since it was such a nice night, we decided to take our coffee outside.

"You'll have to check out the church on Sunday. We're always looking for new members."

"Oh we're not big church people."

She looked confused. "I thought everyone was."

"Nope. Non-practicing Catholics here."

"Oh. How… freeing."

Shit.

"…But we can always check it out. If we have time."

Anne brightened. "Oh good."

I smiled. My fingers were crossed behind my back.

* * *

><p>As it got dark, we went inside to see what the men were up to. They were coming out of the family room, sullen. Richard had the beginnings of a really nice shiner on his right eye and Ranger was holding his hand.<p>

I filled in the blanks myself.

"Jesus, are you okay?" I asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Richard just stalked out to the car. Ranger, went upstairs.

Anne and I were confused.

"I'm so sorry." I said to her.

"He probably deserved it."

I shook my head. "He's a guest. My husband should know better."

She smiled softly at me. "So should mine. Still it was probably his fault."

Coming from the burg, wives usually protected their husbands. It was odd to see one throwing hers under the bus.

"I married him, faults and all. There's not much he wouldn't do for me. That being said, there are days when I wish I could kill him. But then I just remember one question: would I change anything that happened between us that got us here? And as long as the answer is no, then I know that I still love him. It makes it worth it." She shrugged. "I'm sorry. I hope they get over it."

"I'm sure they will."

"I'll see you Saturday, right?"

"You know it."

She smiled. "Good."

When she left, I thought about the question. Was there anything that I would change?

That's when it hit me. I wouldn't. Not even when he sent me back to Joe. Not when he told me that his love came with a condom. Not even after each time he pushed me away.

In fact, there was no one I'd rather be here with other than that crazy, stubborn man.

Mental head slap. How had I missed that for so long? How had I not realized that what I wanted was right in front of me all along?

Oh right, my friend, denial.

Well, I'm shoving denial right out the window. I nodded to myself and continued the mantra until I reached the bathroom. Where Ranger was.

Thankfully when he let me in, he was fully dressed.

Good. No distractions.

"Hey." I said, shutting the door behind me.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I think we should. Are we in trouble?"

"No."

"Did he think you were a cop?"

"It probably passed his mind, but considering I'm still alive, I think we passed that one."

"Then what?"

Ranger wouldn't look at me. So I took a stab.

"Was it about me?"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Oh," I whispered.

"He was being an ass and I set him straight."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"Oh." I looked at my shoes.

"I'm not going to apologize."

"For what?"

"For my actions." He slammed his hands down and looked at me. He was still pissed. "I'm so fucking _tired_ of walking on egg shells around you. I make any advance on you and I feel like a dick. You're being all grown up and realizing what you want and I'm pushing your boundaries. But not this time. This time, he fucking _deserved _it. So this time, I'm not apologizing." He splashed water on his face.

"Good. Because I want you to stop apologizing."

He looked at me. I think this was the first time I had surprised Ranger.

Good. Now I had his attention.


	11. Chapter 11

Yay! New chapter! I thought for a moment that I wasn't going to be able to post this when my ADD kicked in. But I strained through it and I think you'll all be pleased. Sorry for the mistakes. I figured it was better to post than to wait another day (and have you all anxiously waiting) and make sure everything was the way I wanted it.

Not mine.

Warning: Smut. Ranger and I had a little talk. He was done waiting (and honestly, so was I). Don't like it, skip the end.

Man, I have to stop drinking Mountain Dew...

**Author's** **Note:** This is just a re-upload... I needed to make a tiny change.

* * *

><p>"All right, kiddies. Mom and dad are going out for a few hours. So stay here and be good." Tank said, pulling on a light jacket. We may be in Texas, but the nights are pretty cool.<p>

Lester's head shot up from the game of solitaire he was playing. "What?"

"We need a break from you two." Bobby said, joining Tank in the hallway.

"No way can I be alone in a room with _her_." Lester growled.

"Hey!" I said, putting my crossword puzzle down. "Sitting right here!" Lester rolled his eyes and ignored me. I chucked my pen at him.

I know, childish.

Lester caught it before it hit his head. "Nice try, sweetheart."

"See? You two will be just fine. Just try not to kill each other." Bobby soothed.

"Oh and we stored all of _your_ guns in _my_ safe." Tank stated.

"Now you're just being cruel."

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. Tank and Bobby grinned at me.

"We'll be back in four hours."

And they left.

Lester and I were alone.

I always knew that Karma was a bitch, but I never knew she could be this cruel.

Lester and I stared at each other for a moment, then we grudgingly made our way to the monitors. Looked like dinner was winding down.

I chanced a glance over at Lester. He was watching the monitors and sulking.

I sighed and rolled my eyes again.

"Keep rolling them and they'll get stuck that way, sweetheart."

"Bite me."

"I'd rather not."

We sat in silence again.

I didn't know what was wrong. Usually I had guys falling down around my feet at this point. They're usually begging me to take them to bed.

But no, Lester just keeps avoiding me like I have the plague.

I narrowed my eyes and thought about the plan. Each time I made a move, he countered it.

I was beginning to think this was like chess.

And I may have already lost my queen.

Maybe a new strategy? I peeked at him once again.

This time, he was staring at me.

"What?" I snarled.

"You want to say those thoughts a little louder next time?"

Holy shit. "I didn't say them aloud!" Okay, my voice _may_ have squeaked a little.

"No, but they're all over your face. I'm not as easy as your last date. Alfred."

"_Alex_ was a very nice man."

Lester's fist clenched. Ah! Finally! A reaction I know! "Jealous?"

"Whatever. Why aren't you out with him right now?"

"Because if you haven't noticed, we're all alone here and you need someone to watch your back." Plus, he had served his purpose. He was also a little boring. Who knew someone that hot could be that boring?

"Especially if you can't get to your gun."

"Please," Lester scoffed. "Tank's code is easier to break than Stephanie's computer password."

"Wow, you would invade Stephanie's privacy like that?"

"No! Never! The girl can barely remember her own password sometimes."

"You're a jerk."

"And you're nuts! You have to be the craziest person I've met! Have you ever thought about asking me out?"

"Like I would ever think about that?"

"Please. Isn't that what you're doing? Acting like a child to get me to notice you?"

"No." Okay, and that probably came out more petulantly than I wanted it to. He stared at me like he didn't believe me.

"Look, when I heard that you had all the other women… I thought…" I sighed again. "I wanted to do something to stand out from all the other girls."

"So you drove me crazy?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

His eyes shifted away. "Maybe."

I grinned now. "Gotcha."

We sat for a few minutes in silence.

"So, are you going to ask me out or not?" He asked me.

I smirked. "Maybe."

It was so quick, I didn't have time to react. He leaned over and kissed me hard on the mouth.

"Gotcha." He said as my mouth continued to sizzle. I pulled his head back and began kissing him in earnest.

* * *

><p>We stared at each other for a minute. I felt the stirrings of bolting, but my feet stayed planted to the tile.<p>

I wasn't running away this time.

Instead, I made my feet move forward and grabbed the antiseptic wipe from his hand. Gently, I guided him to the shower and sat him down on the ledge. I joined him and started to wipe his knuckles down.

"Are you going to tell me what he said?" I asked. I wasn't stalling. I wanted to know first. So sue me! My curiosity got in the way.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I handled it."

"Well from what I can see, your fist did the actual handling."

"Cute."

"Just tell me. I promise I won't do anything rash."

"Let's just say that the poem that Joe wrote on the wall was tame compared to his comments."

"How did you know about that?"

"When will you learn that I know everything? I gave Joe a black eye when I found out."

"You did?" My stomach fluttered. I shook my head, clearing it. "You're changing the subject."

He stared at me for a moment. "You're not going to let this go."

"Nope." I stared at him until he caved.

It took two minutes.

He sighed. "Fine. He said that if I was ever bored of you that he could take and I quote, 'that fine piece of ass and teach her something'. And then he went into that something. Now _that_, I will take to the grave."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. "Did you punch him hard?"

"Yep."

"Good."

We sat there silently as I continued to clean his knuckles.

"Thank you."

"For punching the guy? That was fun."

"No." I looked up at him. "For being so patient with me."

He raised a brow.

"You knew."

He looked down at his feet. "Knew what?"

I tugged his hand and made him look at me. "Don't look away. Not now."

When he looked up, I could see all the love in his eyes. All the love he had been forced to keep hidden from me these past few months. "You knew." I whispered, cupping his cheek with my free hand.

He briefly closed his eyes and leaned into my palm. He started to speak but I stopped him.

"No, it's my turn. I want you to listen to me right now and then you can speak." I paused and took a breath.

Here we go. Taking the leap.

"Right before Anne left she asked me a question. After all that we've been through, would I change a minute of it? When I thought about it, _really_ thought about it, my answer was no. We've known each other for years and I wouldn't want anything to change. I think we've both made mistakes, but I have to believe that if we didn't make them, we wouldn't be here right now. And I wouldn't be telling you that I love you. Because I do. I love you so much that it scares the _ever living crap _out of me. But I was in denial for so long that I didn't know which end was up anymore. I think I was even in love with you after you sent me back to Joe…"

"I was a bastard for doing that."

"You weren't ready."

"How can you defend me?" He shot up and began to pace. "_Hours_ after we had sex, I was sending you back to another man. Who does that?"

"Someone who wasn't sure what they wanted. Hey, I'm as much to blame in that situation." He scoffed. "I could have said no. I could have told you that you were nuts. I could have said that I didn't want Joe anymore. But I was too scared and in denial about what I was feeling for you. And you were too. No one is at fault for that."

"What about when I told you that marriage and babies are stupid and careless?"

"Who said I wanted kids or to get married?"

"You just think you have all the answers, don't you."

"Yep." I stood up and got in his path. "Because I love you. Because I'm _in_ love with you."

He cupped my cheeks and sighed. "But someday you might want marriage and kids."

"Sure," I said, shrugging. "Maybe someday. But how about we cross that bridge when we get to it. I just want to take it one day at a time with you."

"Because you love me?"

"Got it in one. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."

Ranger brushed a few curls away from my face. "The only thing that matters is that you got here." He smiled now. "You know, I was willing to way forever for you to figure it out."

"Because you love me?" I asked, batting my eyelashes.

He chuckled. "Got it in one." He brought his lips to mine in a sweet and tender kiss. "I love you so much."

I smiled. "You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that."

"Well get ready to hear it a lot. I need to make up for lost time."

He kissed me this time with a little more heat. I think my knees buckled. "Wow." I breathed. "I forgot how good you were at that."

He just grinned. When our lips met again, the heat went sky high. Our lips pressed tightly together, teeth nipping and tongues tangling.

When we finally came up for air, Ranger put his forehead on mine. "God, I want you so bad. It's been too long."

"I can't imagine that it's been that long for you since…"

"There hasn't been anyone since you broke up with Joe."

I was baffled. I knew he wasn't a monk, but I had no idea he would do that. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I had hoped that you would come to me."

"What if I never came around?"

"Babe." He said with a knowing smirk.

"Okay, stupid question." Because it was inevitable. I was going to figure it out sooner or later. Ranger smirked and leaned in for another kiss when my phone rang.

Natalie.

"Perfect timing." I said sarcastically. Ranger chuckled and moved his mouth to my neck.

"Where are you guys? We looked away for a second and you were gone."

"I'm in the bathroom."

"And you answered your phone! Ew! I don't need to hear that!"

"Hear what?"

"Whatever it is that you're doing."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you twelve?"

She ignored that. "What about Ranger? Is he okay? We saw the punch. It was pretty awesome."

"He's fine too." _More than fine, _I thought to myself as he rocked his hips into mine.

Natalie chattered on about something for a few more minutes. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention. I was completely focused on the things Ranger was doing with his hands and mouth.

Which was about the time I moaned. Loudly.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Ranger took the phone from my hands. "She's about to have really hot sex with me. So do us a big favor and keep the cameras in her room off."

Natalie stammered out her response and they hung up. Ranger, grinning from ear to ear, put my phone in my pocket and grabbed my hand.

"You're pretty happy with yourself."

"Damn straight." He gently pulled me from the bathroom.

"Wait, you were serious about the hot sex?"

He just nodded. When we reached my door, he pushed me against it and leaned in close. "I need to be inside of you right now. I can't wait for a more private time."

Well. When he put it that way…

Seeing the affirmation in my eyes, he opened the door and pushed me in. Closing it and locking it, I felt a completely different side of Ranger come out.

Mating Ranger.

I think this is my favorite.

"Take off your clothes."

"You don't want to do it for me?" I teased.

"Not unless you want that shirt to become a rag. Take it off."

I shivered and my panties soaked. I made quick work of my pants and shirt, but teased Ranger with the underwear.

When I was done, he picked me up and tossed me onto the bed. He leaned over me, as if to kiss my lips, but changed directions and went for my lower lips. As his lips made contact with my clit, I arched my hips and grabbed onto his hair. He shoved two fingers inside of me and I was gone. Ranger continued to thrust his fingers in and out as I came down.

And then started the whole process again. He sucked my very sensitive clit harder when I tried to pull him off and his fingers moved faster as I tried to shift away from him.

"You can take it, I know you can." He said, voice thick with lust.

"No…" I moaned, as my body threw me over into another orgasm. He rode me down and removed his fingers. I watched from the bed, feeling like liquid goo, as he stripped himself. I opened my legs for his hips as he mounted me.

"Next time, I'll be gentler." He said, caressing my face.

"Uh huh. Sure. In me. Now."

I grinned and stuffed himself inside me. I arched my back and hips into him as I screamed.

I had forgotten how good he felt.

He waited for a minute for me to adjust and then began to thrust. My body shivered with pleasure as he moved in and out of me.

Ranger put one arm under my back, his left hand tenderly rubbing my neck as the other held my hips in place as he sped up the pace.

"Please…" I moaned. I was so close.

Ranger countered by moving his hand from my hip to hitch my left leg higher on his hips, changing the angle of his thrusts.

My mouth dropped open and I let out a low moan. As I unconsciously licked my lips, I made sure to keep my eyes on Ranger. Usually during sex, I close my eyes. It's just my normal reaction to that much pleasure.

But after the first night I had with Ranger, I loved keeping my eyes open.

Ranger's eyes began to glaze over and his hips started to lose their rhythm. He was close.

Thank god.

Our lips met in a very passionate kiss as his fingers found my clit again. My body trembled as I began to orgasm. His fingers sped up and I flew off the cliff. My muscles clenched around him as I shrieked and clawed at his back. Ranger pressed his hips into mine as he came inside me. He growled my name and his body gently collapsed onto mine.

I was complete mush. All I could do was listen to our racing heartbeats, our panting, and grin like an idiot. I'm pretty sure I had no brain function.

And I was okay with that.

A few seconds later, Ranger chuckled. "God, that was _fantastic_." He said, nuzzling his nose into my neck. He was still panting and each one made my sensitive skin tingle.

I couldn't speak, so I just nodded.

Ranger lifted his head and the smug smile widened on his face. "I think my work here is done."

"Ass."

He kissed me. "You love me."

"Not right now I don't."

Now he pouted. "I'm hurt."

"Shut up. If you let me be on top, I'll love you again."

His eyes darkened and he hardened inside me. "Deal." He said, as he rolled onto his back.

"Yay! I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

I just keep surprising myself. Just when I thought I wouldn't get this out... Yay! The fact that you guys were anxiously waiting kept me going. So thank you for being there mentally to kick my butt and get me to finish this.

Not mine, I just wish.

Warning: Tiny bit of smut.

Just so you all know, I re-uploaded 11. There was an error that I couldn't let go.

* * *

><p>The first thing Ranger did when he woke the next morning was yawn.<p>

Next, he grinned. He couldn't believe that all of his dreams were coming true. First, Stephanie dumped Morelli. Then she finally figured out that he was in love with her.

Ranger thanked every God he could think of that she was in love with him too.

Stephanie was curled into his body, her back to his front, sleeping peacefully. To Ranger, she looked like the angel that was meant to save him.

And perhaps she was.

He tightened his arms around her and vowed that as long as she was his, he wasn't letting her go. Stephanie sighed contently, but didn't wake.

Ranger leaned in and kissed her neck. Her citrus shampoo filled his nostrils and his cock twitched. He couldn't believe that even after all of the rounds of love making they did last night, the simple smell of her hair made him hard.

Of course, he had a lot of catching up to do. He hadn't lied to Stephanie. It had literally been eight months, three weeks and four days since he had sex with another woman. And that woman, ironically, was Stephanie.

In fact, the minute he found out that Stephanie and Morelli had broken up for good, he threw his little black book out. There was no one else for Ranger. All the other women were place holders until he could claim his woman. His grin widened. And claim he did.

As if she was reading his mind for a change, Stephanie moaned and stretched like a cat. Her pert little ass rubbed right onto his now twitching member.

"I can't believe you're ready again." She said, her voice still thick with sleep.

"You're the one rubbing against me like a cat in heat."

She stopped and looked at him over her shoulder. "Are you complaining?"

"Hell no."

She looked pleased. "Good." She tried to stifle a yawn. "What time is it?"

"A little after seven."

She groaned. "And you woke me up why?"

"Hey I did nothing of the sort! You did that all on your own."

She turned in his arms now. She had a teasing smile on her face. "Sure, but with this thing poking me in the back," she started to stroke him. "It was _very hard_ to sleep."

"Well, we'll just have to remedy that."

Ranger nuzzled his face into the skin between her breasts as she continued to stroke him. He worked his way over to her left breast and kissed the little mole next to the nipple. Ranger loved her body, but this was his favorite spot. He spent a few more moments there before he was done with the teasing. Ranger grabbed Stephanie's leg and hitched over his waist, giving him the right angle to slide into her.

The feeling was pure perfection.

Stephanie arched in pleasure and let out a little gasp as Ranger gently rolled her onto her back. He waited for her to adjust and then began his thrusts. When she began to meet his hips, he found her clit and she was gone.

When they finally came back to earth, Stephanie had her head under a pillow. "Well, that was a nice way to start the morning."

"Glad you enjoyed it."

She pulled the pillow away long enough to roll her eyes.

Ranger just grinned as she fell back to sleep.

* * *

><p>"So," Anne started with a big smile on her face. "How did you two meet?"<p>

The three other ladies that had joined us, turned to look at me. Mary, Julia and Christine were all carbon copies of Anne, right down to their different colored track suits. Anne was in pink, Mary in blue, Julie had green and Christine was in yellow.

I suddenly felt overdressed in my jeans skirt and t-shirt.

"We met at work."

"Was he lifting something? I bet he's a good lifter." Christine interjected while she fanned herself.

"No, he was… um… in the office. I barged in and that was that."

"What did you do there?"

"I was trying to get a job, but instead, landed a husband."

"Those are the best jobs." Julia said. The other ladies nodded.

"So… none of you work?" I asked, surprised.

They chuckled. "Please, honey," Mary said, putting her mimosa down. "The only thing we work at is spending our husband's money."

* * *

><p>"So they just sit around and plot shopping trips like d-day." I told Ranger when I got back. We were moving his stuff into our bedroom.<p>

_Our bedroom_. It gave me a little bit of a tingle…

We were taking turns, moving back and forth through the room like a see saw.

"Isn't that what you and Lula do?"

"Sure, but at least we work for the money we spend. They just get it from their husbands."

"Did you actually learn anything useful today?"

"Yes! I learned that they hate their maids."

Ranger stopped me from putting the shirts in the drawer. "Cute."

"What can I say? I was around a bunch of society women all day." He let me good and I went to the dresser. "Although, I did learn something."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep."

We worked for another moment. "Are you ever going to tell me?"

"What are you going to give me for it?"

Ranger's eyes darkened. He pushed me up against the wall. "What do you want for it?"

I smiled. "I believe this would be giving information to the enemy."

His smile turned full on wolf. "More like I know how to work my sources." He deftly unbuttoned my skirt and slipped his thumb across the top of my panties. "Please tell me."

I groaned. "You don't play fair."

"Never said I did." His fingers slipped lower. My eyes briefly crossed. "Well? What did you sleuth out?"

I snickered. "I don't sleuth. I detect."

He grinned. "You're stalling."

"Yep. And that's because two can play at that game." I said, slipping my hand down his pants. It was his turn to let his eyes cross.

"How did we get anything done before?"

"I think it's because I was cock blocking you."

"True."

"I tell you, we have sex. Deal?"

"Deal." He replied quickly.

"The husbands? They're in on it."

Ranger picked me up and threw me on the bed. "Later, I'm going to ask you how you know."

"Good. Later works for me."

* * *

><p>Later, we were sharing one of Ella's meals in bed.<p>

"Okay, spill. How did you figure it out?" Ranger asked. He was leaning on the foot of the bed in his boxers, twirling wheat pasta with marinara sauce.

He never looked sexier.

I smiled. "You won't believe me."

"Try me. And if you spill sauce on my favorite shirt, you're not going to like the consequences."

I played with the buttons. "I have a feeling I will though."

"Stop distracting me."

I sighed and twirled some pasta on my fork. "They told me."

He stopped and looked up. "They _told _you?"

My smile widened. "Told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"I believe you, but I'm just trying to understand."

"Julia is married to Julio Juarez."

His brow furrowed. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

I was shocked. He didn't remember? "I thought you read the file till you knew it backwards and forwards."

"I did. I've had other things on my mind." His hand creeped up my leg until I swatted it away.

"You're nasty."

"But you love it when I'm nasty."

True. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the folder, tossing it to him. "Look."

Ranger read aloud, "Julio Juarez, leader of the Medellin cartel." He looked at me. "Holy shit."

"Mary and Christine are married to his lieutenants."

"You had lunch with the wives of the drug cartel."

"I sure did." I seemed pretty proud. "This just got a whole lot bigger."

"And I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

* * *

><p>Tank, Bobby, Lester and Natalie showed up a few hours after sunset. Hal and Hector had showed up and were monitoring our players. Lester was trying to be all incognito.<p>

That was, until he pulled up in a yellow corvette.

"That was a genius idea." Natalie scoffed.

"You know I'm just full of genius ideas." He replied, his eyebrows twitching.

Natalie rolled her eyes and blushed.

I smirked. They had the glow of their new relationship pouring out of their pores. Plus they were sneaking looks at each other, which were fooling no one.

Ranger and I filled them in on the information that I had gathered. Expletives came from the guys and Natalie sat back and sighed. "This just got more complicated."

"How so?" I asked.

"We're not up to taking on a whole cartel. We're not here to kill the monster, just cripple it."

Ranger nodded. "Getting rid of this guy will definitely take some steam out of their operation."

"We can't just let this go."

"We can't do anything about it. We're here for one man, not hundreds."

"There has to be _something_ we can do."

"Gather what we can and give it to the right people. They'll see it through."

I nodded. I knew, in my head, that this was out of our control but it still sucked. "So we're not going to modify the plan."

"No. Just keep doing what you're doing."

Lester and Bobby filled us in on what they found. Mostly records and a few taped phone calls that they had managed to get after tapping the lines. It wasn't much, but it was a good start.

"We're going to take out his normal supplier and let Ranger take over that job. That should give us the information we need to make an arrest."

We all nodded. This was a good plan. Catch him in the act and maybe get some more information on his cartel buddies. The next shipment was supposed to leave in a week. This was our time table.

* * *

><p>"Can't sleep?" Ranger asked me when we had gotten into bed. I was tucked into his side, using his chest as a pillow. He used his hand to massage my back, hoping to calm me down.<p>

I sighed. "I keep thinking that we'll save the people the cartel has in mind for the guns, but what about the guy who takes his place? There will always be someone else in line."

"Yes, and when we take him out, they'll have to wait until the heat dies down before they start moving again."

"But they won't stop."

"No, they won't. I won't sugar coat this for you, Stephanie. Because it's an ugly world you're in right now. They'll stop for a little while, but then they'll do anything they can to cover the ground that they lost."

That's what I was afraid of. This was only a band aid to cover a bullet hole. Eventually, things would leak out again.

Ranger was silent as I worked out my feelings. This was what he had to deal with when he was _in the wind_. He could stop it for a little while, but the problem was never fully fixed. I looked up at him and I could tell that he knew what I was thinking. My heart skipped a few beats when he let me see the pain that he felt after all those missions.

"I had no idea." I whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"There are dark corners of my world and I don't want you to see them." He whispered back. He cupped my cheek. "I don't want them to touch you."

"I know." I put my forehead on his chest. He hugged me closer.

All the things that we left unsaid, were conveyed in that hug. The fact that he has them and continues to be a good man to me and everyone around him is one of the reasons why I love him.

I sighed once more. "I don't like it, but I'm going to do everything I can to bring this guy down and if I find something to bring them down, then it's just a fringe benefit."

"There's my girl."


	13. Chapter 13

Come on, posting chapter 13 on Friday the 13th? Who could resist?

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It was a real labor of love (emphasis on the _labor _part...)

Not mine, but oh, how I wish!

Warning: Some smut.

* * *

><p>"Can't sleep?" Lester asked me.<p>

I sighed and pushed my head farther into the pillow. My mind was racing and I wasn't sure where to start. Lester, sensing my indecision, just cuddled closer to me and nuzzled his nose into my hair.

And for a moment, I forgot myself.

I loved to cuddle and most of the men reluctantly agreed. I guess they figured that if they cuddled with me, they'd get more sex.

But with Lester… He's the only man that I've ever cuddled with where I forget everything and everyone around me. He creates a cocoon in his arms that keeps everything at bay. For one moment, my head stops buzzing and it's silent.

The best part is not his sexy arms (although, they are pretty fantastic), is that he doesn't expect anything back. I think he loves it as much as I do.

Sighing again, I turned in his arms. His green eyes were concerned. "I feel bad."

"About what?"

"The fact that Stephanie wants to help bring down the drug cartel. I feel bad that we can't."

His brow furrowed. "But we can't."

"I know that. I know that there's nothing that we can do."

"But?"

"But… it doesn't help me sleep at night knowing that."

"Look, the best you can do is gather information and send it to the right people. They'll make sure that it gets done."

"What about right now? What about the people they'll kill while they're waiting for the red tape to be cut?"

He sighed now and cupped my cheek. "This is the bad side of war. You see justice every day, but sometimes, there's just nothing we can do but wait."

I could tell he was speaking from experience. When I had decided to work with Rangeman, I decided to learn everything I could about the guys. And what I could read about (most of it had been redacted), I could tell they had seen more than the average person should ever have to see. In that moment, Lester looked older than his thirty three years. I wanted to take that away from him.

"In the long run, waiting will have a better affect."

"You think so?"

"Sure. They'll be out of there longer, and maybe just long enough for the people to take back the town."

I nodded once. Lester leaned his forehead onto mine. "It'll be okay. Everything will work out."

"You know, when you act like a grown up, it's pretty sexy."

He frowned playfully. "Don't I always act like a grown up?"

"Please," I snorted.

"Aw, now that's mean."

"Want to have sex again?"

His face lifted. "Do I!"

I chuckled lowly and maneuvered him onto his back. "Five year old with a shiny new toy."

"That's me."

I lifted my hips and slid onto him. "Jesus." He said, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Now, I wasn't a virgin when I met Lester. I've had lovers before. But no one filled me quite like he did. He reached places _I_ didn't know existed. He grabbed onto my hips and we moved in our already perfected rhythm. I kept the movements slow and threw my head back. _He felt so good…._

And that's when he threw me on my back.

"Hey! It was my turn."

"Next time," he said, tightening his grasp on my hips. "You were going to goddamn slow."

"I like slow."

"So you admit you were torturing me."

"It's all a part of my game."

He stopped. "I thought we were done with games."

"Are you going to tease me or fuck me?"

He looked like he was thinking about it. "LESTER!"

"Yes darling?"

"Move your fucking hips before I throw you across the room and shoot your _fucking balls off_!"

"Ooh, testy." His finger honed in on my clit. I moaned and closed my eyes.

"I'll show you testy." I mumbled.

He just grinned as he sped up the movement. His lips found my breast and he started to tease the each nipple, spending equal time between them.

I was in heaven.

He continued to speed up until my inner muscles started to clench him. I moaned loudly as orgasm racked my body and a few moments later, Lester joined me, groaning.

"Holy Christ." He panted as he moved off of me.

"My sentiments exactly."

He chuckled. "Feel better?"

"I feel numb from the waist down."

"You're welcome."

I chuckled with him this time. "I'm going to do something to help them. I want those bastards to go down."

"There's my girl."

* * *

><p>"Oh man," I moaned. "You know how to treat a girl." I moaned again, looking down. "I love you, I really do."<p>

"Babe."

"Shh, I'm enjoying the moment."

Ranger grinned and started working again.

"Oh, MAN!" I yelled, finishing.

He smirked now. "Need a cigarette?"

"Possibly."

"It couldn't have been that good."

"You don't know what you're missing."

"It'll kill you, Babe."

"Then I will die very happy." I looked down at my plate. "And very full." Pouting, I wished for more French Toast. I'm so glad that Ella delivers.

Closing my eyes, I wished for more breakfast. I peeked with one eye. "Damn."

"Did you think wishing for it would really work?"

"I hoped." I nodded to the papers that he was looking at. "What are you doing anyway?"

He told me that they were blueprints for the houses of the drug cartel. He was trying to figure out a safe and easy way in and out of the house. When he told me, a feather could have knocked me over.

"You didn't think I'd let you do this by yourself, did you?"

I shrugged. Honestly, I hadn't thought that far. I hadn't even begun to think about what I was going to do about it. At this point, I had nothing.

And Ranger had the plans for a total siege going on here.

"Knock, knock." Lester said as he barged in the back door. "Hey, is that Ella's French Toast?"

"They sure are… Sure, Lester, help yourself."

"Thanks." He said around a piece. Natalie and I just rolled our eyes.

"Not that I'm enjoying the bonding time, but what are you guys doing here?" Ranger asked.

"You have a plan, right? We want in." Natalie said.

I was shocked. We had only been talking about it for a few minutes."How?" I asked.

"Please. We have cameras all over the place."

I paled. I had actually forgotten about the cameras.

"Tell me you didn't see the kitchen floor…"

Natalie grinned. "I got your back."

"Yeah, who knew you could bend like that?" Lester practically yelled as he sat next to me. He took another bite. "Brings a whole new meaning to 'Bend it like Beckham'."

Ranger looked grossed out. "What are you, five? Chew with your mouth closed, _then _talk."

Natalie's face brightened. "That's what I said!"

I continued to glare at Natalie, who shrugged. "Hey, we didn't know you were going to spontaneously have sex on the floor! I did my best!"

That was true. Ranger was looking exceedingly sexy and I just needed to have him right then and there. Really, who could blame me?

Ranger, obviously thinking the same thing, winked.

Natalie took a seat and we all started to work on a plan. Since there was no way we could get any type of warrant from the ATF, we were going to have to do this old school. Get bugs and lie till our pants are on fire about where we got the information.

* * *

><p>"The ladies have their weekly meeting today around three. It'll be at Julia's house, so I'll do that one. You three fight over the other houses." I said.<p>

Ranger was shaking his head. "It's too dangerous."

"Who's going to suspect little old me?"

"Dude, she's got a point." Lester said after taking a sip of his coffee.

"Don't call me dude."

"Fine. But we need to get this ball rolling ASAP. We're not here for much longer, you know. And the longer you wait, the sloppier it gets."

Ranger sighed and nodded. "But you're going in wired. Hal and Hector will monitor your _every _move."

"Fine by me."

"So the annual Texan's ball is next week. Thoughts?" Julia asked after calling the meeting to order.

"I think we should go classy this year." Christine said.

"That was exactly what I was thinking! You know me so well."

Ugh. I'm going to need a bucket.

They continued the debate on whether it should be dressy or black tie. Honestly, I didn't care either way, but if this was the only way I was going to get it, then I was going to sit through it.

"I don't want another slutty cowgirl incident happening again. I couldn't show my face for a month!"

"I think I looked pretty damn good in that outfit." Anne said, leaning over to me.

I tried to hide my snicker.

They decided to put a pin in it (Julia wanted to _pray_ on it) and moved onto other business. They were mostly things about the neighborhood, stupid disputes over lawn gnomes and things like that.

Honestly, I don't know how anyone lives in the suburbs. Clearly it's not for me.

Julia banged her gavel. "We'll take a break and enjoy some of Stephanie's delicious pie."

My head shot up. "Huh?" My head was blank for a second, and then I realized what she had said.

"You _did _bring the pie."

"Sure did."

Julia didn't look convinced. As the newest member, clearly I had a lot to prove.

"It's in the car. I fell into my own little world during your riveting debate over gardeners. Pardon me."

Then again, maybe I can be as bitchy as the suburb moms.

Thankfully, I had remembered the pie. It was kind of hard to forget something you slaved for three hours over. Plus, it was my distraction while I searched the house.

"Enjoy!" I said cheerfully.

As everyone gathered around for pie, I slipped away. The house was bigger than mine by… well, a lot. Think mansion to my nice home.

We had learned that they keep the most important documents in the upstairs study. That was where I'd begin my search and place the bugs.

Reaching the top of the steps, I maneuvered silently through the halls to the study. The door was locked, but thanks to the guys' training, the door was a breeze for me. I unlocked the door and started to push in when Hal's voice scared me to death.

"Stop!" He practically screamed.

"Jesus, Hal! Lower it."

He was silent for a moment and I heard Spanish in the background. "Hector wants you to feel him up."

"_What_?"

"Sorry, feel up the side of the wall. Pardon me that my first second language isn't Spanish!" He finished more to Hector than me.

"What is it?" I asked, curious.

"Dutch, okay?"

"Really?" I stifled a chuckle as I felt.

Hal chose to ignore me. Fine, I'd just tease him later. "Do you feel an indent in the wall?"

I felt some more, then nodded. Jesus, they can't see me. "Yeah. What does that mean?"

More Spanish. "It means give Hector a kidney."

I silently laughed.

"_Minute_. Next time, I'm making Lester stay with you."

Ain't that the truth? I waited for my cute to go in and a few minutes later, I was given the green light. "What was that, anyway?"

"Hector had to bypass the security. Otherwise we'd be picking you up in several pieces."

"Holy crap."

"Yeah. Good thing Hector did the final Wi-fi sweep."

"Tell him I'm going to get him a fruit basket when we get home."

He relayed it and Hector seemed pretty happy.

I placed the bugs around the room and began my scope for a paper trail. Considering the level of security to get into this place, I pretty sure that everything would be in a lock box.

I finished the coffee table and headed for the desk.

Then again, maybe it'll just be sitting right on top for me. I told the guys this.

"He probably thought the room was safe."

I shook my head. "When will drug dealers learn?" I started to scan the information. It was pretty damning.

"From the looks of it, he was trying to expand to Miami, but they weren't having it."

"Sure, that's Cuban territory. They hate outsiders." Hal paused. "How many more pages."

"Ten, maybe?"

"Hurry up. Sounds like things are starting to break up down there."

I nodded again and rolled my eyes. They _still _couldn't see me. "How much time do I have?"

"Three minutes, on the outside."

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time.

Anne stepped into the room. "What are you doing?"

I looked at her and my eyes bulged out of my head. "Uh, Huston? We have a problem."


	14. Chapter 14

And another one is out... Things are starting to heat up now!

Please leave reviews. I need some happy today.

Not mine... but I go to bed every night and wish for Ranger. One day, he'll show up.

* * *

><p>"What the hell happened?" Ranger asked in his calm-angry voice. We were all sitting in the kitchen only an hour after the incident. I was sitting in the corner and kept my head down.<p>

"Anne walked in on Stephanie. She surprised us." Hal said. He explained that I was almost finished and she just showed up.

"And you didn't see her?"

"One minute she was using the bathroom, the next, Stephanie was compromised. It was like we blinked and everything was going to hell."

I could hear Ranger sigh and knew he was probably rubbing his face. "And so you drugged her and brought her here?"

"It was either that or have our cover blown."

"Jesus." There was silence and then Ranger's boots came into my line of sight. He bent down and cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I screwed up."

"None of this was your fault."

My eyes lowered and I shrugged. I wasn't so sure about that. This was all my idea. I thought it was a good one, trying to bring down a cartel. How stupid. We could never have done it and I was just kidding myself thinking that we could. "It was my bright idea."

"We all went along with it."

"And what does that tell you?"

"That it was a good plan." I scoffed and Ranger tightened his hold on my chin. "It was. You know I wouldn't have let you do it if it wasn't?"

This was true. Ranger was the master of plans. If he saw something wrong, he would have pulled the plug. "So what's our next move?"

He sat back on his heels, and nodded to himself. "What do you think?"

"I think I should let you handle it."

This time, he shook his head. "You need to see this through. If you don't I know it'll haunt you the rest of your life."

I had a feeling he was right again. I hated those movies were the woman cowered behind the big, strong man. Why didn't she stand up for herself? Or at least, get a big bat.

I sighed and thought. I wasn't sure what to do next. My mind was blank. Drugging her may have not been the best part of our plan.

"Too late, Babe. It's already been done. What now?"

"I said that out loud?"

He grinned now. "I'm glad you're now cowering behind your big, strong man."

I punched him. "Shut up." Then it dawned on me. I bit my lip. "I need to talk to her. She needs to hear the whole story."

Ranger almost smiled. "Are you sure?"

"Do you want to lose your favorite appendage?"

Ranger leaned in close. "Come on, Babe. We both know that you'd never cut it off. It's your favorite too."

I crooked my head to the side. "Your right arm is my favorite appendage?"

His eyes darkened playfully. "Cute."

"Jesus, now I know how the kitchen floor happened." Natalie muttered behind us, breaking the spell.

I rolled my eyes and covered my blush. "I'm sure."

"Good. Go with your gut."

Ranger got up and sat in the chair next to me. I looked at Hector now. "Will she be awake?"

He said something in Spanish and I felt my brow furrow. He sighed. "_Si_."

I nodded once and got up. I wanted to ask Ranger to come downstairs with me, but I figured it would be easier hearing the story from me.

Not that hearing about your husband's black market deals was going to be a walk in the park. I grabbed the folder and stiffened my back.

Ranger gently grabbed my neck. "Go get em, tiger." He whispered in my ear. I melted a little. He always knew the right thing to say. I gave him a small smile and one nod, and then I descended down the stairs.

Anne was sitting there, staring daggers at me. Her hands had been cuffed behind her back and the guys had moved a table down there. It looked like a police interview room.

Okay, maybe this wasn't going to be a walk in the park for either of us.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it already."

I was shocked. Did she really think I was going to kill her? "I'm not going to kill you."

Surprise registered on her face before she shut it down. Man, she looked like Ranger.

"I'm going to uncuff you and put your hands in front. If I feel I can trust you not to run, I'll take them off."

"Why?"

"Because I know how uncomfortable you must be right now." I released one hand and she stayed in her seat until I recuffed her in the front. I also loosened them a bit. What is wrong with these guys?

"Better?"

She shrugged.

I sighed. "Fine. We'll just sit here till I get an answer."

And so we sat there. For five minutes. She had finally huffed out a yes. I nodded and reiterated that we weren't going to kill her.

"Why not? I saw what you were doing. And those goons that drugged me? I saw their faces. I can identify you to the police."

"You're not going to go to the police."

"My point exactly. A dead person doesn't go to the police."

I was going to let that go. No way was she going to believe me until we let her go. "I just want to talk to you."

"You could've done that at the house. How did you get me out?"

"I said that you were sick and my friends were going to drive us home."

"Clever."

"I think well on my feet."

We sat in silence for a moment. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Your husband."

"Richard?"

"Do you have another husband?"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't respond. I wasn't expecting one. Instead, I moved on. "How much do you know about his job?"

"Who are you people?"

"Answer my questions and I'll answer yours."

She sighed and thought. "Not much. He does a lot of shipping."

"Do you know what he ships?"

"No."

I took out a picture of a crate of guns and slid it over. She looked at it. "My husband has nothing to do with guns."

"Did you know he used to be a CIA operative?"

"Is that who you are?"

I raised my eyebrows. She didn't answer.

Sighing, she said, "no."

"Up until a few years ago, he was a deep cover agent." I slid over some files we had gotten from the FBI on him. She looked them over and shook her head. "This isn't Richard. You've got the wrong man."

"I wish I did." I slid a few more pictures over, along with some news clippings.

She barely glanced at them. "No, I don't believe you."

"Your love for him is admirable, considering how much he loves you. He quit doing jobs, but when you got sick…"

"How do you know that?"

"… he knew you'd need the money for treatment. That's when he met Julia's husband."

"_What_?"

"Julio Juarez, aka, El Jefe. He runs the Columbian cartel." I always wondered why they were called 'El Jefe'. Maybe I'll ask Hector. I pulled out the articles about the cartel and pictures of Julio standing in the middle of the gang.

"He comes here every few months. I had no…" Anne tapered off. She looked at me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because your husband has been running guns for the cartel."

"No. No way."

"We have a source on the inside. He's positive."

"Then he's mistaken! My husband would never… You're making all this up."

"Why would I accuse someone of gun running?"

"Because… Because…" She couldn't come up with anything.

I took out the final articles and pictures. The school. She looked for a moment, then glanced away. "No." She whispered.

In my gut, I knew it was time to leave. She needed a moment to look the evidence over. "We don't want to hurt him either. We just want the truth and justice." Then I got up and went back upstairs.

Ranger was at the top, waiting for me. He grabbed me in his arms and held on tightly. "Good job. Proud of you, Babe." He whispered in my ear.

"I don't think I got through to her."

"Give her the time to process."

"What about Richard? Isn't he going to expect her back soon?"

"Hector left a voicemail with a recording he made. She's going to be with you all day doing girl things."

I sat down. "What if she never believes us?"

"Then we let her go."

"_What_?" I screeched.

He shrugged. "She can go to the police, but they won't do anything. We cleared the operation with them. Make sure there aren't any turf wars."

"Yeah, and in the process, letting them take the collar." Lester snorted.

"We want to get out as clean as possible. I don't want to walk around with the possibility of a target on the back of our heads."

"I know. It still sucks." Lester grumbled.

"Would you rather have your pride hurt or be dead?"

"I'll take my pride and run please."

"Good choice."

Hal came back into the room carrying a big folder. "You did well, Stephanie. A lot of this evidence is damning."

"Explain." Ranger barked.

"Well, after Hector and I fumbled through the translation, we got the jist of it." He opened the folder and started to flip through it. "Most of it is generic e-mails. They don't say a lot, but we noticed an odd code at the bottom. So Hector hacked the computer and found that they were imbedding files under the original e-mails. That's where we hit gold. Each e-mail shows the transactions made by the cartel, going back at least three years."

"Any on the guns?" Ranger asked.

"One or two. Nothing substantial. Just a notice that the guns would be shipped soon and the bank account number the money was wired to."

I looked over the pages. This was pretty damn good. The bank number, however, seemed familiar.

"We already sent the file to the DEA and they're working on confirming it."

"Good." Ranger looked at me. "Babe?"

I pointed to the account number. "That number, why is it familiar?"

"It's Anne's account." Hal butted in. "We checked."

"So he's laundering the dirty money through her?" As if I could hate this guy even more.

"Looks like it." Ranger looked as disgusted as I did.

"That's the proof we need. We can tie him to the cartel." Natalie looked pleased.

"We're going to need Anne's help. If we want to do this quietly, we'll need her cooperation."

Ranger nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'm going back down there." I got up and made my way back down. Anne looked at me, but this time, there wasn't any hostility. Just defeat.

"I've been sitting here, thinking that everything you said was a complete lie. That my husband is a good man and would never get caught up in something like this."

I opened my mouth, but she stopped me.

"I was getting ready to fight you tooth and nail when you came back down. But I realized, if you wanted me dead, you would have already done it."

"True."

She licked her lips. "Will you answer some of my questions?"

"Sure."

"Who are you people?"

"I work for a security firm and we're helping the ATF bring down your husband." There was no way to sugar coat that.

She nodded to herself. "I'm not going to run."

And I believed her. I uncuffed her and sat back down. She rubbed her wrists and fanned out the file. "How do I know you didn't doctor these in some way? How do I know these aren't fakes?"

"Turn them over. On the back, there's an agent's ID number, the date and time stamped. You can't fake those. They can only be printed at the agency it came from."

"You can forge anything."

"Sure. But not many know about the other corner. Upper right side, flip it into the light."

She did. "What the hell is that?"

"The ID number upside down and backwards in nearly invisible ink. I think they switch it up with brail every few pages. You can only see it if you hold the page a certain way in a certain light. The only way to get that ink is to work for the government. They don't sell it commercially."

She looked at the rest of the photographs like that and then nodded. "You're sure about my husband?"

I went into vague detail about my investigation, plus what the ATF had given me. I told her how I dug deeper, just to make sure, but yes, I was positive it was her husband.

She took a deep breath. "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

><p>So... thoughts?<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Originally I had planned to get this out yesterday, but me an Fanfiction were having a disagreement (go figure). So here it is today!

I'm not giving up on this story, but another story is yelling at me in my head. It needs to come out. Have no fear, my faithful readers, I WILL finish this one. It just depends how much time I can spend between the two. So don't worry if I don't post next week (which probably won't happen, but I'm just letting you know in case it does).

Not mine, but oh how I wish Rangeman was real...

Also, thanks to christiebabe who gave me the idea. I wasn't sure how I was going to end this chapter, so that really helped. Thanks babe!

* * *

><p>"I hope you realize what you're getting yourself in to." Ranger said to Anne when she sat down at the kitchen table. "He figures it out and finds out you helped and he could kill you."<p>

She nodded. "I know. But those children…"

I squeezed her shoulder and nodded once to Ranger. I got it. Those pictures were going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Ranger nodded back. Lester and Natalie's faces were somber. Everyone in the room understood the consequences here.

Ranger handed her a phone. "Call him. We want to make sure he's there so we can take him down cleanly."

She nodded again and took the phone. Anne took a deep breath and dialed. "Hi honey." She said when he picked up. Ranger had attached the phone to a recording device so we could all hear the conversation. It wasn't that we didn't trust her.

Actually… We didn't trust her.

"Did you have fun with Stephanie?" He asked.

"Yes. We went shopping. I got a new dress."

"I bet it looks great on you." His voice went a little husky. I think I threw up in my mouth. It's not that I didn't have a problem with public displays of affection. God knows I love to give Ranger's ass a good squeeze now and then, but Richard runs guns and kills kids. He didn't deserve to play grab ass with his wife.

"Mmhmm. Listen, are you home right now?"

"Yes."

Ranger looked pleased.

"But not for long. I have to go to Las Vegas to pick up a shipment."

Ranger didn't look pleased anymore.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I just got the call. I'm sorry honey."

She looked between me and Ranger. "No, that's okay. When will you be back?"

We could hear the smile in his voice. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time for the gala. I know how important that is to you."

"Good."

"I have to go. My plane leaves in an hour. I love you."

"I love you too." And he hung up.

"I see the phone manners thing must be a black ops thing." I whispered to Ranger. He almost smiled at me and pinched my butt. "Ooh, sassy."

"Tease."

"We didn't have a secret code, I swear." Anne said, looking terrified that we might actually kill her this time.

"Don't worry. He was too smooth for you to have any kind of code. But he's not going to Vegas."

"I have no doubt." She mumbled.

Ranger called Hector into the room. Hector was going to hack the GPS and find out exactly where they were going. "More than likely, he's off to Columbia." Ranger said to the rest of us. Hector nodded and waved at me. I smiled and waved back.

"Bang, bang."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?"

He just grinned and shook his head. "No."

I rolled my eyes again. This time he chuckled. Ranger spoke to him in Spanish again and Hector nodded once and left.

"What's our next move?" Anne asked.

Ranger thought about it for a moment. "You're going to go home. Go about your normal day and if you hear from him again, let us know."

She nodded. "I will."

Ranger nodded once and flicked his eyes over to Hal. "Ready?" Hal nodded. Ranger turned his attention back to Anne. "Hal's going to take you home."

Anne looked relieved. She followed Hal out of the house.

That's when I pounced on Ranger. "You're just going to let her go?"

He grinned. "Yep."

"I don't understand you. I thought that…"

"Relax. The only reason that she's going home is because we bugged her house and put a GPS in her purse."

"Oh." I felt a little silly doubting Ranger.

Ranger just continued to grin and he put his arm around me. "Don't worry about it, Babe. We got this under control."

"Fine. So what's our next move?"

All of us sat around the dining room table trying to figure out what we were going to do next. We had a few good ideas, but mostly, they were outlandish and a little scary. For example, on one of them, Lester wanted to use a blow torch, pick axe and duct tape.

Don't ask.

In the end, we decided the plan would stay the same. We'd wait for him to return from his 'trip' and nab him then. After making sure we could make a clean getaway, we'd spirit off into the night. And so we waited. Two days later, we were putting our plan into action.

"I can't believe you're making me wear pantyhose." I heard Natalie grumble over the mic. "It's like a hundred degrees out here."

"It's what a _True Texan _wears." I said to her. At least, that's what the ladies told me. They were worried I wasn't going to dress appropriately.

How nice of them.

"What is this? The nineteen fifties?"

I was wondering that myself as I adjusted my thigh high back up. Ranger watched me as I switched legs on the dashboard, his eyes dark. What she doesn't know won't kill her.

"Come on, they're not that bad." Lester said.

There was a pause. "I don't want to know how you know that."

"No, you don't." Tank said, chuckling. "But if you ever do, I have pictures."

"I thought you deleted all of those!"

"Sure. The one's I could delete. You never said anything about the ones already printed."

"I am going to kill you later."

Tank just chuckled.

"Can we please be serious children?" Ranger asked. There was a chorus of yes's. I snickered and rolled my eyes. Ranger looked at me and grinned. I swear, my brain stopped. Ranger smiling was trouble. But putting him in a tux? Complete murder on my brain cells.

"Babe." He said, his eyes flicking to my uncovered leg which was still on the dashboard.

"What? She's right. It's hot."

"In more ways than one." Ranger mumbled. His hand moved up my leg, reaching the free skin. My eyes were on their way to being good and crossed when he pulled his hand away.

I moaned in frustration. Ranger's eyes darkened again.

"Jesus. I swear, if you two have sex in that car…" Natalie grumbled.

"You're just jealous."

"Damn right I am."

Hector joined in and said something in Spanish. Ranger nodded and looked at me. "Ready?"

"He's here?"

"Just entered."

"And Anne?" I asked Tank.

"Holding up fine. She looks a little stiff though."

"Well yeah, her husband's a killer." Bobby said. "That's not easy."

We had hit one last snag. His plane was late getting in and we were doing this in public.

At the big Texan dance.

Nothing like having a big audience for a takedown.

Natalie and Lester were sitting inside, acting as our inside back up. Tank, Bobby, Hal and Hector along with a few ATF agents were a street back, watching from a van. They were the emergency team. The plan hadn't changed. We were going to get him into a room, cuff him and get him to the local ATF office. We had them and the Department of Justice on standby to take his statement. If he could help the DEA with the cartel, we were going to get all the information we can.

The scene in front of me could only be created in Texas. Everything was red, white and blue.

"I think we wore the wrong colors." I whispered to Ranger.

"We're fine."

"It looks like the American flag threw up in here."

"It's because we're Texan, dear, dear people from New Jersey." Julia said as she came up behind us. "I'm so glad you two could make it."

"Julia, this is my husband, Carlos. Carlos, Julia."

"It's nice to meet you." Julia said, looking him up and down.

"Same. Where's your husband? I've only heard good things."

"He's around here somewhere." She said, looking around the room. "Well let's mingle." She shooed us into the room.

Ranger kissed my hair. "Got that?" He asked Tank through my hair.

"Loud and clear. We'll find him."

I felt him nod as I locked eyes with Natalie. She raised her glass to me and turned back to the conversation she and Lester were having with an older couple. The minute we knew something, they would be right behind us.

Ranger led me to the dance floor. "What…?"

"I promise you'll love it." His voice lowered. "I'm good on the dance floor."

I shivered. "Plus, a good vantage point?"

He looked surprised. "Hey, look who's learning."

"Never say that the TV show _Castle_ doesn't teach me anything."

He just grinned as he turned me around the floor. Ranger was right, he's very good. This must be where he gets his rhythm for… oh my.

Ranger shifted our hips closer. I could feel him growing hard. "You're blushing."

Well, no use in hiding it. "Yep."

"Good. Remember that for later."

"Will do."

He looked me in the eyes for a moment, then whipped me around. "What do you see?"

I looked to the corner. All three husbands were meeting. "A cartel meeting happening in public."

"And?"

Julia's husband's face was red. Christine and Mary's husbands looked annoyed. "They don't look happy."

"Yep. Time to move."

We broke through the crowd and found Anne and Richard. She was wearing the dress she had made up on the phone. And it did look good on her. She paled when we reached her. "We have something we want to show you two." I said to them.

Richard was looking past us, clearly distracted. "What now? It's a party."

"I have some contracts…"

"I'm not working now. I want to spend time with my wife."

I looked to Anne for help. "It's okay. I think you should do it."

He was breaking down. "No…"

"We can all go together."

He sighed. He probably figured we weren't going to go away. "Fine. Five minutes."

The four of us moved quickly to the second floor where we found an empty drawing room. The room was done in an odd shade of coral with windows wrapped around all three walls. Not exactly what I was expecting, but somehow, it worked.

"Baby, just listen to them." Anne said.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I cut in as Ranger made sure the rest of the floor was clear. "We know about the cartel Richard."

"What?"

"We know you've been selling guns to them."

"You knew? Who the hell are you people?"

"It doesn't matter. If you want to save your wife, you'll tell the DOJ everything you know. We want to help."

He swallowed and looked for a way out. I got in his face. "There is no time for that now. We have a way out, but your friends don't look happy."

"They shouldn't be."

"Why's that?"

Richard looked at Anne. "Ask her."

I looked at Anne. "What did you do?"

She shrugged. "I… I just moved some money. For when we go into witness protection. I figured we could use it until we got the rest since they can't give it to us all at once. They can only give you so much."

Richard looked angry and apparently he was ready to spill. "You moved the cartel's money! They think _I_ stole it! That's what took so long!"

Oh shit. And just when things couldn't get worse…

"I didn't know! It was in _my _account!"

"Jesus Christ… "

Ranger came back into the room. "What's going on?"

"Anne moved the Cartel's money."

Ranger briefly closed his eyes. "When?"

"Two nights ago?"

"No wonder they looked pissed."

Ranger looked at Richard. "You're going to help us, right?"

Richard sighed again. "I don't have another choice. I need to keep her safe. Even if she did something completely stupid."

Anne just glared.

"Uh, guys? You have a pissed cartel boss coming your way." Lester said.

"Stay on them." Ranger turned to me. "Keep them here."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to call ATF. Tell them we need them now."

"Don't get shot."

He smiled. "Don't go crazy." And he left like the wind. I just rolled my eyes. Figures he'd walk out like the wind. I smiled at the memory of the first time he did that. We were apprehending a skip at a club and one minute he was there, the next he was gone.

The mystery of Ranger.

As if he could hear me thinking about him, Ranger came back into the room and spoke to Anne and Richard. "ATF is going to meet us downstairs. There's an outdoor staircase over there. Take them. Now."

They nodded and hurried out the door. Natalie and Lester came into the room a few minutes later.

"I want the two of you to go and watch over them." He said to me and Natalie. "Make sure they get into the right hands."

"Is this because I'm a woman? Because I can handle myself."

Ranger's face softened and he cupped my cheek. "What I can't handle is worrying about you _and_ who is going to come through that door. It's a sure way to get us all killed."

Made sense. I nodded and gave him a swift kiss (okay, and I copped a feel of his ass. So sue me!) and followed Natalie out the door.

We stayed a few feet behind them and I felt a tingle go up my back.

"What is it?" Natalie asked me.

"Something's not right…" And that's when I saw Julio. He was holding cell phone and smiling.

Now I _knew_ something wasn't right.

Just ahead, they were about to reach the agents. Julio dialed.

"Adios, mis amigos." He said.

"NO!" I yelled. I went to grab Anne and Natalie went for Richard. "DOWN!" I yelled to the agents.

The last thing I remembered was thinking about how I was finally flying.

And then the world went black.


	16. Chapter 16

Okay, sorry about the delay in posting. RL has been a bitch this week. From finals and packing to go home for the last time, and a job interview where I had to make sure I could type 60 words per minute (I litterally typed to the point where it hurt to type anything...). Thankfully, it's all over now and hopefully the next chapter comes up easier.

Not mine, but boy I wish I could have Ranger.

* * *

><p><strong>Ranger's POV<strong>

Lester and I watched as our women left through the door. The minute I couldn't see her curly brown hair, my mind went back into business mode. Lester did the same. It was part of our training. Personal attachments are what get you killed.

And I wasn't ready to die.

"How much longer till they get here?" I asked him.

Lester looked at his watch. "Five, maybe ten seconds."

"We better make this good." I said, throwing a punch through his nose.

"Hey!" Lester said. "I wasn't ready!"

"Well get ready." I rolled my eyes. Steph would've been proud.

Okay, she may be out of my mind, but she still popped in every once in a while. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

When the cartel's goon's barged in, Lester and I were in mid fight. "You're a slave driver!" Lester yelled.

"And you're a lazy son of a bitch!" I yelled back.

"Hey," one of the midlevel cartel guys said. "HEY!"

"WHAT!" We yelled together.

"Did you see a couple and a woman go through here?"

I looked at Lester. "What are we stupid? We've been the only two in here."

He turned back to the men. "Look around anyway." He said in Spanish. Lester and I pretended not to understand. The men did their sweep and shook their heads.

"See? Now can I go back to hitting this guy?" I asked.

"Sure. Whatever." He motioned for his guys and they left. I grinned at Lester. It was the first time that I had gotten a good look at him. "Looking good, cuz."

"I think I need to reset my nose." Lester's shoulders sagged. "Did you see that one guy? I'm pretty sure he was bigger than Tank. We're talking possible Hulk here." Lester said, rubbing his aching jaw.

I just nodded. "We threw them off." I said to Tank. "How are the ladies?"

"Almost there… wait."

"What?"

"Was that guy really bigger than me?"

I sighed internally. "What are you, four?"

Tank didn't get a chance to respond before we heard the explosion. Lester and I shared a look.

"You take one step out that door, Ranger, and you could blow it." He knew that if she was hurt, I was going to kill the son of a bitch that hurt her. Which could look very bad. The wrong witness and it could be my head on the cartel chopping block.

"Is she hurt?" I asked quickly.

There was a pause. Forget going out there, I was going to find Tank and kill _him_. "I don't see her man."

"What do you mean you don't _see _her?"

"There's too much chaos. A lot of the guests were leaving. Too many bodies."

"What about Natalie?" Lester blurted out.

Another pause. "Maybe. If it's her, she looks okay. I'll keep an eye out. You two go downstairs and triage with the medics that are showing. I'll send Bobby in."

We nodded and started down the stairs. Our women and the blast were momentarily put out of our minds. In situations with spouses, girlfriends or boyfriends, the mate is immediately assigned to desk duty. When it came to Stephanie, Tank immediately took charge of the situation. He knew that he was the only other person I would take orders from. The crowd had thinned a little, but there was work to be done.

I didn't see Stephanie among them.

Lester came up behind me. "Tank will say something if he finds her. She's got nine lives, man."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Eventually, they run out."

He patted my shoulder and we got to work. I knew if I continued to think of her, nothing would be done and more bodies would be piled up. If she was dead…

My heart skipped a beat. If she was dead, there would be no reason to live. She was my heart and she saved me from my worst enemy. Myself.

Stephanie was one of the few people that made me feel like myself. When I was with her I was the man, Carlos, which I was before the Army. I needed her so that I didn't become the trained killing machine the army had made. The minute I become him is the minute that Carlos dies.

And if she's dead…

I closed my eyes. No more. I had to have faith that Tank would find her.

Lester and I connected with the medics and began giving basic medical care. Each person I wanted to ask if they had seen what happened. If they had seen a curly headed woman alive.

But I didn't. I focused on the task at hand.

After a few hours, the only people left were the unhurt and patients waiting for an ambulance. Lester, Bobby and I went outside to see if there was anything else we could do.

"Oh thank God." Lester said, when Natalie threw herself at him. She had tear tracks from the smoke and soot lining her face. We could see new lines forming. She had a gash on her forehead that had been treated. Lester hugged her tightly, as if he was never going to let her go.

And he shouldn't. They were perfect for each other.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. Richard and Anne are back at the office. They have a few burns, and Anne sprained her wrist, but it doesn't look like anything major."

"What about Stephanie?" I asked impatiently.

Her eyes watered and she shook her head. My stomach dropped. "I don't know. One minute she was there, the next… It's all a blur."

Lester hugged her and I felt my knees wobble. "We'll find her man." Bobby said, holding my arm, effectively holding me up.

I took a deep breath. I felt Ranger coming back into my mind and limbs. Ranger, the tracker, the killer was once again in control. I was going to find her.

"Call the hospitals. See if she's been admitted." I said to Bobby.

He nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"Search here."

"Ranger, there's too many…"

I didn't hear the rest of the sentence. I was already on the move.

Each person I passed, I made sure it wasn't her. There were too many people here that I couldn't check them all, but if she was looking for me, we'd find each other.

I reached the back of the parking lot. No sign of her. I called Bobby. "Any sign of her?"

"None of the hospitals have a woman matching that description."

"Keep looking." And I hung up.

I did something I hadn't done in a long time. I prayed. I prayed that my angel was still alive.

And then I heard the most beautiful thing in the world.

"If you try to get me into this ambulance, _you _are the one who is going to need the ambulance." Stephanie said, her New Jersey accent standing out among the Texan twang.

I whipped my head around and there she was. Fifty feet outside of my line of sight. Her dress was a little torn and she was completely covered in soot, but she looked fine.

If she knew that I had almost missed her, Stephanie would have no problem about telling me to be aware of my surroundings. "I found her." I said into my mic. There was a round of 'thank you god's' and 'is she okay's'. "She looks fine." I said.

More relieved sighs.

I walked over and watched as her brow furrowed. She reached and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked up and saw me. Her face brightened and she ran to me. The medic yelled at her, but she ignored him.

I caught her and hugged her to me.

"I'm okay." She said. I just hugged her tighter. I wasn't going to let her go.

"I'm okay… but you might kill me." She gasped, gently tugging my ear. I chuckled and let her go enough to breathe. I saw the medic behind us, giving us a look of disapproval.

"Report." I barked.

"She seems fine. Just a few cuts on her legs and road rash, but I want to take her in for a CT. She might have a concussion."

She rolled her eyes at me. "And I said _I'm fine_." Stephanie said to the medic. She glared at him.

I turned her back to me. "Do you feel faint? Like you're going to be sick? Have you forgotten anything?"

"No, no, and I remember something about blushing later."

I grinned. That's my girl. "She's fine."

"But…"

"She's. Fine. We have a medic on staff and if she gets worse we'll bring her in."

"I don't like this."

"Too bad. Now give me the AMA." Stephanie barked.

The medic paled and nodded quickly. He stumbled into the ambulance.

"Babe. I think you scared him."

"Well I want to get back to what we were discussing before." She let her hands rub against my chest inside my coat. "I have a feeling I'm going to be blushing _a lot_ tonight."

I grinned. "We'll get back there."

"Good." She took the form from the now surly medic. He crossed his arms and waited.

"I don't like this." He said.

"Point well taken." She replied. She signed it with flourish and handed it back. "I know all of the signs of bad things. I promise that I will get myself to the hospital if they appear. Cross my heart."

He narrowed his eyes, then sighed. "Fine. Just take it easy, okay?"

"Sure."

I continued to grin and took her under my arm. "You just lied to that medic." I said when we were a safe distance away.

"Who, me?" She smiled sweetly at me.

"Smartass."

"Yes, and you love me for it."

I kissed her deeply, showing my love for her. She moaned and was about to slip her tongue into my mouth when Natalie came over.

"Oh jeez. Get a room."

"Well, we're _trying_." Stephanie gritted out. Her eyes were dark blue from lust and irritation.

Natalie smiled and hugged Stephanie. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Me too." They pulled away. "How are Anne and Richard?"

"Anne's in shock but okay. Richard is spilling his guts."

I felt my eyebrow rise.

"Well, as much as a CIA trained spy _can_ spill his guts."

"Good. And the others?"

"The agents you saved were able to get Julio. He's not talking but the three they caught after him are. He'll be going away for a long time."

Stephanie's shoulders sagged. She turned to me. "Do you think the cartel will come after us for this?"

"It's hard to say."

"I doubt it." Natalie said. "The cartel was done with Julio already. The fact that he's been arrested speeds up their time table to find a new leader. If we didn't get him, he'd probably be dead in a few months. I wouldn't expect a fruit basket from them, but they're probably thankful."

"Aren't they worried he'll talk?"

This time Lester shook his head. "They have enough with the lower dealers that they don't need to make a deal with him. His information is worthless and the dealers don't know enough to stop the cartel completely. They've insulated themselves well."

I chimed in. "So we'll take the approach you do with spiders."

"Ignore it till someone else comes by and squishes it?"

I smiled. "Pretty much. But I'll have one of the guys keep an ear to the ground, just in case."

"So it's over?" She asked.

Natalie nodded. "We've done all we can, and a little more. It's time to go home."

We started walking to our cars. Natalie was under Lester's arm and I put Stephanie back under mine.

Home.

That sounded really good right now. I looked at Stephanie out of the corner of my eye. She was smiling.

We may be going back to Trenton, but right now, I knew I was home. It wasn't the place you filled with things, but the people and memories that you have that make it home. And that's what Stephanie was to me.

"Don't forget our deal." She whispered coyly in my ear.

"Never in a million years."

"Oh boy!"


	17. Chapter 17

****Okay, I know I'm a bad updater. Who would have thought that my life would have gotten busier since school ended? I promise that I will get the next chapter up much sooner. There will be one more. I decided to give Stephanie and Ranger one more chapter and then Natalie and Lester will get there own. They deserve it, right?

Not mine.

Warning: Smut. I wasn't planning it, but who can plan anything when Ranger's involved.

* * *

><p><strong>Stephanie's POV<strong>

I woke up the next morning alone. Ranger had woken up early and gone on his normal run. I tried to persuade him that we could do just as much cardio in bed, but he just grinned and kissed me on the head on his way out. I may be a changed woman, but I _still_ wasn't getting up at the crack of dawn to run. Instead, I dozed on and off waiting for Ranger to come back.

Hey, just because he gets his cardio in, doesn't mean _I _don't want to get _mine _in.

Mmm… Ranger naked.

I think I drooled and I felt my eyes glaze over.

Of course, it was that moment that my phone decided to ring. I looked at the ID and made a face. Joe.

It would only happen to me that I would be thinking delicious thoughts about my man and my ex would call.

"Hello?" I said when I picked up.

"Thank god you're alive."

"I'm sure someone would have called you if I wasn't."

"Yeah, well, call your mother. She's been calling me non-stop since five last night. I had to turn off the phone just so I wouldn't yell at her. Glad to see your talents for blowing things up extends to other states."

That was mean. So I was just as mean back. "Just think, they were almost your in-laws."

"Dodged a bullet there."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding, Cupcake. Jeez, did your sense of humor get blown sky high?"

"No." I snapped.

He paused. "But you're okay, right? Everything is where it should be?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"And…" He coughed. "Ranger's okay too?"

I smiled now. "He's fine too."

"Good. Good."

Ranger came back into the room at that moment. I smiled and gave him a finger wave. His eyebrow quirked up. _Joe_, I mouthed to him and pointing to the phone. He nodded once and went into the shower.

I began to drool at thought of naked Ranger again.

"Stephanie? Are you even listening to me? Hello?" Joe said into the phone.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

There was a pause. "You have no idea what I just said."

"Hmm?"

He chuckled now. "What did he do, walk past you naked?"

Ranger came back out rubbing the water out of his hair with a towel. And nothing else. "Um," I swallowed. "Something like that."

Ranger looked at me and grinned. I narrowed my eyes at him.

Joe just chuckled again. "Then I should let you go." He said. "I'll call your mom and let her know that you're safe."

"Thanks, Joe."

"Bye Stephanie." And he hangs up.

Well, at least he says good-bye.

Ranger lies down next to me. "How are things back in Trenton?"

"Good. My mother is driving Joe crazy."

"Somehow that pleases me."

"That's because you're an ass."

"But you love my ass."

I rolled over to my side and mumbled "I don't right now..."

Ranger chuckled and cuddles me into him. "You don't mean that…"

I could feel him hardening behind me. I wiggled back into him. He moaned in my ear. "Looks like your body loves me."

"My body is a traitor."

He chuckled. His hand slipped around and cupped me. He nuzzled my neck and I moved it to give him more room. What this man does to me.

"You don't play fair."

"Never said I did." He turned me and his mouth met mine. We shared a few gentle kisses before I felt my legs being spread and Ranger entering me slowly. I sighed when he was completely inside me and rubbed his back as he waited for my body to adjust.

He started to move slowly again and he tilted my hips up to get a better angle. I felt my head go back and hit the pillow as I moaned. Loudly.

"Christ." Ranger mumbled. He continued to curse in Spanish as his hips began to speed up. My hips began to meet his. His hand found my clit.

And then I was gone. My eyes rolled in the back of my head as I continued to orgasm. Ranger continued to thrust and rub my clit as clenched him with my inner muscles. He kept it up until I went over again and Ranger followed me this time. He gently collapsed on top of me as we caught our breath.

A few minutes later, he pulled out and rolled off of me. I whimpered at the loss and Ranger cuddled me into him.

"There was a moment." Ranger started when we had found our breath. "When I thought you were dead."

I rested my chin on his chest. "Ranger…"

"I'm not done." He said, interrupting me. He put a finger on my lips. "Just listen."

"There was a moment." I said, around his finger.

He smiled sadly. "While in that moment, I lost a piece of myself. A piece that you had brought back. After the Army trained me, I became a hardened soldier. And in doing so, I had to lose a part of myself to do the job successfully. When I came back for leave, even my own parents didn't recognize me."

I didn't speak, but I rubbed my hand soothingly on his chest.

"But when I met you," he smiled for real now. "It was like you flipped a switch. Little by little, the old me started to come back. I think Lester was going to fall out of his chair the first time I laughed in the control room again. You had rolled in garbage or something, but the fact that you were covered in crap didn't stop you from getting your skip. You constantly surprise me with your love of life. You saved me from becoming just another soulless soldier. There is no way I can thank you for that."

"You don't have to thank…" The finger was back and I sighed.

"I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that whenever I get you a gift, you just accept it and say thank you. You don't whine about it or try to give it back or make faces. Just be happy. Because when I give you those gifts, it's because that's the only way I know how to say thank you for giving me my life back. Do you promise?"

I blew out a breath. It wasn't going to be easy, but I could see where he was coming from. "I promise I'll try."

He smiled again. "Good enough."

I leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you."

His brow furrowed. "For what?"

"For telling me all that. It couldn't have been easy."

His shoulder shrugged. "Little by little, it gets easier."

That made me warm in my belly. Ranger was always the lone wolf. He's a solitary creature. The fact that he shares things with me means more than anything he could buy me. All I want is him.

"Just as long as you don't become a Chatty Cathy."

"Babe."

"I'm just saying. A year ago, Tank barely said two words to me. Now I know all about his cats."

He just grinned at me. "Promise."

"Good."

I sighed and put my head back down on his chest. "It's all I'm asking. You know I can only handle so much."

I felt him chuckle. "Oh I know _exactly_ how much you're capable of."

"Hey! Dirty man."

He rolled me back over. "How is it dirty when it's true?"

"Got me there."

"Smartass."

He leaned back. "Oh no. We're not starting this again."

I just grinned until he slid into me. And then I thought nothing.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to miss this place." I said to Ranger the following morning. "I really like it here."<p>

"Really. I thought you never wanted to do the whole 'chained to the stove' thing."

I shrugged. "Ella did most of the cooking. I just ate and looked pretty."

He grinned and went back to his paper. "Good to know." I felt Ranger's eyes on my back as I packed the rest of the kitchen.

I turned my head and looked at him over my shoulder. "What?"

"Las Vegas is only five hours from here."

My heart stopped and I turned slowly to him. "What are you saying?"

"That Las Vegas is five hours away from here."

"No, no. You are a man of few words. You have a point." I pointed the spoon at his chest. "So make it."

I knew exactly what point he was trying to make. There are three things that you go to Vegas for: gambling, hookers and marriage. And since I've never known Ranger to gamble and there is no need for a hooker, I know that it has to be the final thing.

Marriage.

I took a deep breath and waited for the hyperventilating to start.

But it never did.

Odd.

Maybe if I gave it another minute.

But no, it still wasn't there. I stood there, stunned, waiting for what Ranger is going to say next.

Ranger stood up and stood in front of me. He took the spoon out of my hand and smiled softly at me. His hand cupped my cheek. "Don't freak out. Because the minute you freak out, I won't get this out. You don't realize this, but when you go into denial, you stop listening. And this is one moment that I don't want you to forget."

I took a deep breath. "This is a denial-free zone."

"Good. I am a man of action. I prefer to let them do the speaking for me."

"Boy do I know that." I blurted out.

He just looked at me.

"Hey, I never said it wasn't the mocking zone."

"Shush."

"Fine."

"You're just lucky I find you cute."

"Admit it, I'm down right adorable."

"I thought I was adorable."

"Are we really this far off topic?"

"I think so." Ranger smirked. "I'm getting back on now."

"Good."

"I want you to know that I love you, even if I don't tell you every day. I've felt it since the moment I met you and I had no idea what it was. I promise I'll try to tell you that every day, but I'd prefer to show you."

"Me too." My thoughts turned to naked Ranger.

"And not just that, dirty girl."

"But you like it when I'm dirty."

"Focus."

I just rolled my eyes playfully. "So you want to show me… how?"

"I want to make this real. I want to marry you."

My mouth dropped open. I never thought he'd actually say it. And still, the hyperventilating I usually got with Joe was not coming.

Maybe I could never marry Joe because it wasn't right. Because I always knew that there was something better than living in the Burg and cooking all day.

This way, I got great sex _and _great food. With Ranger, comes Ella, God's gift to me.

"I want my ring on your finger so that everyone knows how much I love you."

"But what about the marriage thing being stupid?"

"It's only stupid with the wrong person. I know you're not the wrong person."

"What about your enemies? Aren't you worried that someone will come after me to get to you?"

"Sure, but who says that we aren't better together than apart? This way, I can keep a better eye on you."

"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Yes. Because I love you and I want to marry you."

"What brought on this change of heart?"

"Are you stalling?"

"Just trying to figure you out. Because for years, you said that you would never get married. I just want to make sure that you've thought this out. I want to make sure that you aren't just reacting to the bomb and to the fact that we've been playing house for a few months. Because this marriage would be real, unlike what we have right here. You can't take that back."

"I get that. And I'm not reacting to the bomb. And sure, the playing house thing has something to do with it. It made me realize that I don't want to go back to Trenton without you by my side." He cupped both of my cheeks now. "I don't want to take it or you back. I want everyone to see that I am here to stay with you and for you, no matter what."

I didn't even realize that I was crying until Ranger started to wipe my tears away. I watched as his face morphed from joy, to confusion and then to the frown of unhappiness marring his face right now.

"No."

"No?"

"No, stop with the face. These are happy tears."

"So you're saying…"

"YES!"

The frown went away and his face broke into the largest smile I've ever seen. He picked me up and twirled me around.

"I'm glad you said yes. Otherwise I would feel pretty stupid about these tickets." He pulled two boarding passes out of his pocket. They were for a flight in two hours.

"Well then I better get packing."

He grinned again and kissed me deeply. "I love you."

"I love you too."

And so three hours later, in my best white shirt and blue skirt (for the something blue…), Ranger in his black polo and jeans, along with Tank, Bobby, Natalie, Lester, Hector and Hal and our parents via Skype, we were married in the first church we could find that would marry us and had wi-fi.

Lester let me borrow his mini-revolver and Hector helped me pick out my new bouquet.

We were married so fast that it never crossed my mind that we had forgotten rings. But once again, Ranger had thought of everything. The wedding ring he gave me for the mission (and his as well) were actually family heirlooms (great for the something old). The engagement ring he had bought three days after he met me. When I asked him how he knew I was going to say yes way before he asked, he would just smile.

"I'm Batman, Babe." He said with a sneaky smile.

I still don't know how he knew my ring size.

"How long have you been planning this?" I asked him later as we recovered from our last round of lovemaking.

He grabbed my left hand and kissed the rings that would become a permanent fixture on my hand. "Since the minute you said yes to the job."

"You've been buttering me up this whole time?"

"Yep. Worked like a charm."

"Damn straight."


	18. Chapter 18

Once again, we've reached the end of another journey. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. As of right now, there's no sequel in the works, but who knows. It might change.

This one is a little longer because Lester and Natalie needed a little more time in the front. And who doesn't love them!

I hope to have the next story started soon. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Doing these stories and hearing how much you love them really and truly makes my day. Without you readers, I wouldn't be here having so much fun.

Not mine. But I keep wishing...

Warning: Smut. Hello! It's Lester! If you don't like it, skip it. This is M after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Lester's POV<strong>

"Got it. ETA is in sixty minutes. Thanks, Binkie." I said before I hung up the phone. "Okay, the plane landed on time and they just reached the car we left at the airport. They should be here in about an hour." I said to the people crowding the conference room. They all scurried to get their work done. Tank came up next to me and chuckled.

"Ranger is going to kick your ass for this." He said, pointing to the commotion we were surrounded by.

"Sure, but it'll be worth it for the look on Bombshell's face. She's going to love it."

"True. That might be the only thing that saves you, brother."

The man had a point there. I decided since Stephanie and Ranger were doing the quickie wedding in Las Vegas, it was only fair that we help them celebrate with a little party.

It'll be them and seventy of their closest friends.

Natalie came into the room holding the folder she had been working on for the past hour. "Holy crap." She said, looking around the room.

"Nice, right?"

"You're a regular Mary Poppins."

We had moved the conference table out of the room and pushed most of the chairs back to the walls to make ample room to dance and talk. Ella was currently preparing all of Ranger's and Stephanie's favorite foods and Bobby was picking out the music.

"I think I'm going to throw in the Macarena and see if she can get Ranger to do it." He said, grinning.

"He'll probably shoot the stereo before he does _that_ dance." I replied.

"He better not! That's my baby!"

I rolled my eyes. Tank and Hal were putting up the banners I had ordered and Mrs. Plum was bringing the cake. Mrs. Manoso and her husband were going to bring the card tables for the presents and scrapbooking table.

Natalie snorted. "I didn't even know you knew what scrapbooking _was_."

"I know lots of things!" I cried out, outraged. The nerve of some people…

She looked at me. "Right."

"I do! I grew up with sisters."

"You have _a_ sister and she's ten years older than you. Try again."

"I used it to pick up chicks."

"I find that hard to believe."

We stared at each other. Her hazel eyes were like a dark pit that I never wanted to crawl out of. I continued to think about that and not about caving. Whatever happened, I wasn't going to cave.

Nope, not me.

Then she stuck out a hip and raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." I sighed. "I googled it."

"There you go. Good boy." She patted my head.

"If you pat other places I can show you how good of a boy I can be."

Her eyes darkened some more. "Upstairs in ten minutes."

"Deal."

She sashayed her hot hips out of the room. I had a feeling that my tongue was wagging like a dogs.

Hal came up to me. "How does everything look?" He was blushing so I knew that he was looking at my woman's hips. I glared at him for a moment, hoping he would get the message.

He did. He blushed some more.

I nodded once and looked around the room. "Ella almost done?"

"She's having Cal and Manny help her bring down the food as she finishes it and Mrs. Plum should be here soon."

"Looks good. Good job."

He nodded once and went to see where he could help.

I, on the other hand, had a date with a naked woman. I calmly walked out of the room and headed for the staircase.

Where I flew down them.

If the guys were laughing, I didn't care. I was going to get some.

Barging into my apartment, I quickly spotted Natalie on the bed. She had stripped down to the lacy thong she had put on this morning and nothing else. I felt my mouth water.

I love women. I don't keep that a secret and many times, that has gotten me into trouble. And with that love, I always figured I'd be a bachelor forever.

But looking at the woman sitting on my bed, I could feel that old life melting away from me. If she wanted to get married, I'm pretty sure I'd go out and find the biggest ring I could.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there or do I have to do everything myself?" She asked in a husky voice. Her fingers started in her hair and moved down to her nipple. She pouted up to me.

That picture alone made me want to come right in my pants like a teenager.

"Touch yourself." I said, my voice as husky as hers.

She obeyed and began rubbing her nipples softly. Her moaned were timed perfectly with the throbbing of my cock. She tweaked them a few more times and looked at me from under her lids. "Now what?"

"Take your thong off."

Without her eyes leaving mine, she slid them off carefully. She opened her legs wide so I could get a great view of how wet she really was. She blinked and stroked her thighs.

"Show me how you want me to touch you."

She stroked her thighs a few more times and when she reached her lower lips, Natalie moved her hand to caress those. She gently worked the outside and slowly moved to the inner lips. As she stroked herself, she let out a moan and her head fell back.

"No." I growled. "Look at me. Keep your eyes on me."

Her head came back up and Natalie eventually got her unfocused eyes back to me. She continued to stroke herself and spread the silky wetness coming from her to her clit. When it was good and slick, she used her left hand to rub the tiny nub and used the other hand to penetrate her center.

I caved after a few strokes. I didn't want to watch anymore. I wanted to make her moan. In a flash, I had moved from my spot on the chair and was leaning in front of her. I gently removed Natalie's hand and replaced it with my mouth.

She tasted like heaven. Like sweet nectar that could never be found on earth. I moved the other hand off her clit and began rubbing the pad of my thumb across it. Both of her hands found my head and held on for dear life.

"Lester!" She screamed as she went over for the first time. My mouth went to her clit and began nipping gently as I pushed two fingers into her still pulsing walls. She clenched around them, signaling that she had gone over again. I pushed her over a third time and then gently licked her as she came down.

"Holy crap. I can't move." Natalie said, as she laid herself down on the mattress.

I sat back on my ankles with a smug look on my face. She moved her head to the side. "Shut up and get up here. I want you in me. Now."

"Yes, ma'am." And that was an order I was willing to take. After quickly stripping, I moved her up to the top of the bed, gently setting her down on the pillows. I followed her down and she smiled softly at me.

"What?" I asked after her face turned sad.

She just shook her head. "Nothing."

"You can tell me."

"Are we having a moment right now or are you going to fuck me?"

I thought about it. "Fuck you."

"Good choice." She grabbed my cock and put it to her center. I did the rest of the work and entered her.

It surprised me every time. She felt better than any woman I had ever been with. I waited until she adjusted and began to thrust slowly, working up the speed.

Natalie grabbed onto my ass and tossed her head back. "God, I'm so close."

I could feel it; she was hot and tight around me as I pushed back into her. A few thrusts later, she came again and her nails bit my ass. It was going to leave a mark, but I was too far gone in my own orgasm to care.

As our heart rates slowed, I gently collapsed on top of her. Instead of making me move, she generously accepted the weight. Natalie purred.

I think what surprised me the most about Natalie wasn't the fact that she could handle all my shit and give it right back, but the fact that she wants me to cuddle with her. Being Latino, I come from a long line of passionate and expressive people. We like to hug and kiss family any and every chance we get. Being a player, not a lot of women want the cuddling after. They just want the sex and then they want me to leave. Which I'm okay with, of course.

But sometimes, a man just needs to cuddle a little.

And I loved that Natalie got that.

I'm pretty sure that I loved _her_. And coming from me, that's saying a lot.

I pulled out a few minutes later and cuddled her close. She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around me.

"Set the alarm, would you?"

"Sure." I grabbed my phone and set it.

Yeah, I could see myself doing this every day.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, we were showered and awaiting Stephanie and Ranger's arrival. We had Cal and Binkie monitoring the garage so they could give us a heads up. We had contractors standing by to take their place so they could join the party.<p>

"He's in there." We heard Cal say after feeding Ranger the line about how Tank wanted to talk to him about a customer who wanted out of his contract.

"Five minutes, I promise Babe." He said, giving her a gentle kiss.

Man would he be surprised.

And that's what we did. When the lights came on, we yelled surprise.

Stephanie screamed. Ranger raised an eyebrow.

"Congrats on the ball and chain, cousin!" I said, coming up to him and patting him on the back.

"What the hell did you do?"

"We're throwing you a reception. Dude, just go with it. It's mostly for Stephanie."

When I brought up the new Mrs. Manoso (who was cowering behind Ranger), his facial features softened. He could never say no when we spoiled Stephanie.

In fact, _he_ couldn't stop from spoiling her.

He nodded once and moved on to hug his family. Stephanie who had finally caught her breath, punched me in the arm. "What the hell!"

"We wanted to surprise you!"

"Well mission accomplished." She looked royally pissed with her hands on her hips. She melted a second later and threw herself at me. "Thank you." She whispered into my ear.

My heart tripped a little. "Anytime, Beautiful."

"Move, Lester, I want to say hello to my new daughter." Mama Manoso said. I bowed out of the way. Tia Rose, this is Stephanie. Stephanie, Tia Rose."

"It's nice to meet you." She said.

Rose stood there for a moment, looking somewhat unhappy. "You love my son?"

Shaking her head, "With all my heart."

Her eyes narrowed. "You pregnant?"

"God no!" Rose tilted her head. "Not… not yet. But… but maybe… someday?"

I think Stephanie was thinking about bolting until Rose hugged her tightly. "Welcome to the family, mija."

"Uh thank you." Stephanie gently patted her back, awkward at the contact.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to the hugging."

"Okay."

"Ricardo. Come meet our new daughter."

And that was how the Manosos took to Stephanie like a duck to water.

* * *

><p>The party went off without a hitch. Everyone was getting along and even Mrs. Plum, who thought Joe was Stephanie's 'last chance' was happy with the match. She was glowing just as bright as the bride.<p>

I always figured that Ranger would charm her to the point she'd be asking 'Joe who?'

"Thanks, man." Ranger said.

"Sure." We were silent for a minute. "You take good care of her."

"I will."

"Good because there will be a line to kick your ass if you don't and then another to take your place."

He glared at me. "Noted."

"I'm just saying…"

"Shut up now."

"Aw, is he threatening to rip off your manhood?" Natalie teased as she walked over.

"Yes. Shoot him."

"Not worth the paperwork. Sorry baby."

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked.

"Lester's threatening to kill me if I hurt you."

She snorted. "Please. He'll already be dead. _I'll_ kill him."

We all laughed, but we knew that it was true.

"So, when do you head to DC?" Stephanie asked Natalie.

We both stiffened. "What?" I asked.

"Didn't she tell you about the job offer?"

I turned to her and we locked eyes. "No."

"I hadn't gotten a chance." Natalie supplied.

Stephanie blushed. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine." Natalie waved it off.

I, on the other hand, wasn't going to forget it. I looked at Ranger, silently letting him know that we needed a minute.

"Babe, let's go say hi to Joe and Nina."

"You're going to love her." She said in her fake happy voice. She was trying to sink into denial land.

I was trying not to let my heart climb out of my chest. "What is she talking about?"

"Well after the arrests, they saw that this was bigger than they thought. With Richard and Anne's testimony alone, we'll bring down a big portion of the cartel. They promoted me to see every operation that becomes of it through. In DC."

"And when were you going to tell me?"

She shrugged. "I was working on that."

"Working on that? We've been back for three weeks!" I looked at my shoes. "When do you need to leave?"

"Day after tomorrow."

Well, at least I had an answer to the sad face.

"Look, I think we can do this. At least until I work it out that I can work from the office here."

"And how long would that take? A year?"

She shrugged and looked down at her shoes. "Around that."

I sighed and crossed my arms. A year. I didn't think our relationship would last the long distance. If it was a few months, _maybe_. But we couldn't be apart for that long. Everything was still too new. If we had more time…

"Then maybe we should just see this relationship as it is."

"What?"

"It was nothing more than casual. You were always going to go back to New York."

"Yes, but…"

"So it was nothing permanent." She was going to hate me. But I was doing this for her own good.

"No, it wasn't…"

"Look, honey, I'm a player. You can't change that. It's been real fun. Maybe if you're ever in town, you should give me a call."

"You really can't be this callous."

I watched as her eyes filled with tears. It broke my heart.

But it was necessary. I walked away.

Stephanie, who had probably heard everything, came to comfort her. I hit the button for the elevator.

And never looked back.

**Three months later…**

"Any questions?" Ranger asked the group. When we had none, he nodded and dismissed us.

As we walked out, I couldn't help but smile. Ranger was leaning over Stephanie, who was telling him her plans for the day. He had a small smile on his face and he played with her fingers. It was good to see them still acting like newlyweds.

It made all the guys hopeful.

My heart seized for a moment and I walked quickly from the room.

I didn't want to break up with her, but better to make a clean break then to drag it out for years and end it when we're too bitter to even fight anymore. It was better for her.

And it sucked for me. Which put me in a perpetually bad mood. I'm sure the guys noticed and they kept their distance.

Everyone, but Stephanie. She pounced every second she could.

That is, until I told her I was dating other women. That shut her up pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, it was a lie. I _tried_ dating. But they felt wrong. Either they looked too much like Natalie, or not enough. It was hard to be interested in your date when you're mentally dying her hair. So I stopped altogether. It was just easier.

Who would've thought that Lester Santos, playboy of Rangeman, would stop dating?

I sighed and went to my desk. The only thing helping me through was work. I think I'm more of a workaholic than Ranger _ever_ was.

"Hey," Stephanie said softly when she came into my office.

"What's up?"

"I need you to stop working so hard. It's making the rest of us look bad." She smiled sadly.

I grinned. "Just raising the bar, Beautiful."

She looked at me. "You're sad."

Leave it to her to sound old enough to be my grandma and a child at the same time. "I'm busy."

"When was the last time we hung out, Lester?"

"Well you've been busy with your new life." I tried not to sound bitter.

"Not too busy to notice that you're sad." She paused. "You miss her."

"Stephanie, we've been over this…"

"I know."

"So why do you keep bringing it up?" I barked.

"Because I hate that you're miserable!" She yelled. I could hear the commotion stop in the control room.

I got up and shut the door. "Look, I appreciate you doing this, but…"

"No. You are going to listen to me now. You've been spouting off lie after lie. I'm done listening to it, Lester Santos. You are miserable. And it's your own damn fault. I don't care what reason you _think_ is the right one, just know that you're wrong. I hope this makes you feel worse. She's just as miserable as you are. She's not the Natalie I know and it's all because of you! You love her. I saw that the minute you two started dating. And I know she loves you. You two are perfect for each other. So perfect that it makes me sick. You're both so stubborn that you won't make the first move. Now you need to make this right. Because if you don't, I'm going to send you to an early grave. You can't live a shell of your former life!" She yelled the last part and stormed out.

I sat back down and stared off into space.

"I hate it when she's that right." Ranger said from the doorway. "She sees more than we give her credit for."

"How can I face her? I acted like an ass."

"Tell her that. And say you're sorry till you're blue in the face. It's what I do with Stephanie." And he ghosted away.

Damn, they were both right. I sighed and turned to my computer. I needed to buy a ticket.

"Sir! You can't go in there!" The secretary at the desk said. The guards were child's play, but I think I had a pit bull on my tail. "Sir!"

I ignored her and she hit a security button. But that didn't slow me down. I was going to find Natalie. I searched every desk with Ms. Pit Bull on my ass. She kept yelling, but I didn't hear a word.

"Natalie!" I yelled.

Her blonde head popped up. Surprise covered her face. I ran to her desk.

"I was an ass." I said, panting.

Her eyebrow rose. "No argument there."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I thought it would be better for you. If there was a clean break. Then we wouldn't hate each other if things went sour. But I was so wrong. I'm miserable…"

"Sir, you need to come with me."

I whipped around and faced the rent-a-cop. "I have a higher clearance than you could ever _dream_ of. It would give you a nosebleed. I'm not a terrorist, I'm just trying to talk to my girlfriend so BACK OFF!"

Natalie nodded to the officer. "He's okay."

"I'm miserable without you. I need to talk to you every day when things suck. I need to kiss you when I'm feeling playful. I need you to be there when the nights are bad." She knew exactly what I meant by that. Screaming, sweating and nightmares. "So this is me, apologizing and asking you to come home."

Natalie's mouth gaped. "I… I… don't…"

My heart sank a little.

Then she handed something.

It was a transfer order.

"I was already coming home."

I looked up from the paper and grabbed her tightly in my arms. When I gave her a little room to breathe, I kissed her as hard as I was hugging her. After a few minutes, we needed air, and I placed my forehead on hers, laughing.

"I'm so glad you're here." She whispered. "I missed you."

"I love you."

"I love you."

I kissed her again and my heart was light again.

* * *

><p>Three weeks later, Lester escorted Natalie back to his apartment. The next morning, it was <em>their<em> apartment.

Everyone was thrilled.

A year after that, there was another wedding. This time, it was done in a church, the way Mrs. Plum had hoped for. The bride walked quickly down the aisle to her husband, her eyes never wavering from him. She glowed like a bride in love should.

But not as much as the matron of honor. Stephanie rubbed her growing stomach once before grabbing Natalie's bouquet. The wedding was quick, but everyone knew that it was going to last a lifetime.

"So, how does it feel to be married?" Stephanie asked me as we danced.

"Fantastic. How does it feel to be pregnant?" I asked, rubbing her stomach.

She smiled brightly. "Fantastic." She kissed me on the cheek before her husband took her back into his arms.

"We owe everything to her." Natalie said as she came back to dance with me. "She yelled at me too."

"So I wasn't the only one."

"We should start a support group."

Lester smiled. "I've never been happier."

Natalie's eyes darkened. "I disagree."

"I don't know…"

She grabbed my hand and looked for the closest empty room. "Let me show you…"

_The end._


End file.
